Tánaiste, Simon Harris, has arrived in Washington on the day that US tariffs on the EU have come into force.
The US has imposed a 20 percent tariff on most EU goods. It compares to a 10 percent tariff imposed on the UK. But many parts of the world have been hit even harder.
A trade war is already well underway between the US and China.
Following the latest tariffs and counter tariffs between the two superpowers, US taxes on Chinese imports have now reached 104 percent.
The tariffs have sent stock markets plunging around the world.
The EU is still hoping to negotiate away the tariffs by, for example, pledging to buy more US fossil fuels and potentially reaching a “zero for zero” tariff deal on industrial goods including cars and chemicals.
But the EU was not able to convince the US government to do a deal before tariffs came into effect today.
Against this backdrop the Tánaiste, who is also Ireland’s trade minister, arrived in Washington DC last night.
He has secured promises of meetings with some key players in the Trump administration including US Secretary of Commerce, Howard Lutnick.
Simon Harris’ lobbying efforts could be important, but he cannot negotiate himself because Ireland’s trade policy is managed by the European Commission.
The Tánaiste’s office said that his meetings would also include a number of senior Republican party figures as well as business leaders.
He will meet with Secretary Lutnick “to discuss trade and investment relations, as well as the mutually beneficial US-Ireland economic relationship, which supports over 400,000 jobs on both sides of the Atlantic.”
At an emergency meeting of EU trade ministers in Luxembourg on Monday, Simon Harris urged his counterparts to de-escalate tensions with the US.
“Everything we do in the days ahead has to be to create the environment that brings the US administration to the table.
And I think there are many, many reasons, not just here, but in the global markets, that are going to make that an inevitability in the time ahead”, he said.
Pharmaceuticals are exempt from the 20 percent tariffs leading the Taoiseach to hope that the sector will dodge US tariffs.
Ireland’s pharma exports to the United States last year were worth €44 billion, up from €25 billion in 2023, according to data from the Central Statistics Office.
But the European Commission believes Trump will hit pharma next.
That suspicion seemed to be confirmed overnight with Donald Trump saying tariffs on pharmaceuticals will be coming “very shortly”.
Arriving in the US, the Tánaiste said it was important to keep talking.
“We are here to keep the lines of communications open with US political and business leaders as well as share insights and engage. During the visit I will be emphasising our desire to find a negotiated solution between the EU and US on tariffs and that I am fully supportive of [European Trade] Commissioner Šefčovič’s work.”
“I will make the point that the European Union is ready right now to negotiate. We have a team on standby to travel to DC to begin negotiations between the EU and the US to find a way forward.”