The Government’s “working assumption” is that there will be further US tariffs focused on pharmaceuticals, Tánaiste Simon Harris has said.
The sector received an exemption from a sweeping 20% tax on EU goods announced by President Donald Trump yesterday.
The US President made the announcement in a much-anticipated address from the White House in what he called a “declaration of economic independence”.
He said the 20% figure is about half of the EU levy on US goods.
Addressing the exemption for pharmaceuticals, Mr Harris said the expectation was that further measures were coming.
Speaking as he arrived at Government Buildings this morning, the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade said: “I think we have to take President Trump at his word here. He has been very clear that he intended to put in place EU-wide tariffs, he announced them last night.
“He’s also been very clear that there’s a number of sectors that he wants to take specific measures in relation to. Steel and aluminium, he’s already done. The car industry he’s already done and he’s indicated semiconductors and lumber and pharma.
“Therefore, my working assumption has to be that there will be further measures directed at pharma, or at least that that’s the intention of the US administration.
“Of course, we continue to engage. I had a good conversation with the US administration last week in relation to this.
“We’re making the point that actually about 80% of what we produce in companies here that goes into the US, from a pharma point of view, aren’t finished products, they’re commodities that actually go back into US factories, create jobs for people to pay taxes there.”
Mr Harris noted that other EU countries also have strong pharmaceutical presences, including Denmark, Sweden and the Netherlands.
He said the European Union “has to respond if the US refuses to engage, refuses to negotiate”.
Mr Harris said the EU was ready to respond as a “much larger economic trading bloc” than the US, adding: “We can’t just kind of stand idly by.
“I think the approach taken by the president to the commission today is calm, is measured, is balanced, it’s basically saying ‘we’ll respond if we have to, but we’d much rather talk. We’re ready to respond. We’re prepared to respond, but we’d much rather talk and engage’.”
Mr Harris added: “We deeply regret the announcements by the United States president last night.
“I think, though, now that the United States has had its big-bag moment and made this announcement, now it’s time to get around the table, try and find a negotiated way forward.
“Over the course of the last number of days, I’ve been talking to most of my European counterparts and in very, very regular contact with the EU trade commissioner.
“I really believe that the European Union wants to find a way forward. We don’t want to be involved in tit for tat. We’d much rather be involved in talks.”
However, he said the EU “will have to respond” if a solution could not be found through talks.
‘Measured approach’
Meanwhile, Minister for Enterprise Peter Burke advised companies and businesses considering their position this morning to “be calm”, adding that there will be “a measured approach to this”.
Speaking on RTÉ’s Morning Ireland, he said: “We have to be very clever about this. We have to be calm and really have a look at what are the key areas that we can control.”
He said: “We’re trying to land in a space whereby Europe can move and also where we can try and negotiate downwards the tariffs, which will serve no one because the first casualty is the US consumer here in all of this.”
In relation to Northern Ireland, Mr Burke said dual market access has always been the core of the Windsor Framework and is an important asset to the region and the all-island economy.
He said there is a compensation mechanism contained within the framework which will respond the the differential between countermeasures.
“If the European Union makes countermeasures over the next number of weeks and the UK does not or does to a lesser extent, there is a rebate mechanism contained in the Windsor framework whereby companies can apply to the UK government for a rebate,” he explained.
“All that has to be worked out but that compensation mechanism is clearly part of the Windsor framework.”
As the Government and the EU consider how best to respond to the announcement of tariffs by the Trump administration, Ireland’s EU Commissioner Michael McGrath will hold a series of political engagements in Dublin over the next two days during an official visit.
Trade policy is a competence of the European Commission and Commissioner McGrath will be at the table as the Commission decides on its strategy to respond to Mr Trump’s tariffs.
Significant concerns have been raised for specific sectors in Ireland, including the pharmaceutical and spirits industries.
A fact sheet released by the White House said pharmaceuticals are not currently subject to the reciprocal tariff, but adds that future good-specific or sector-specific tariffs may be announced.
As Ireland’s most senior person in the EU, the tariffs issue is likely dominate discussions between Commissioner McGrath in his meetings over the next two days with the Taoiseach, Tánaiste, and Ministers Paschal Donohoe and Jack Chambers.
The Commissioner is also due to meet with Minister for Justice Jim O’Callaghan, the Attorney General, the DPP, the Chief Justice, the Garda Commissioner and the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission during the visit.
He will also give a keynote address at UCD’s Sutherland School of Law on the rule of law in the European Union.
Last night the Taoiseach said that disrupting the “deeply integrated” trade relationship between Europe and the United States “benefits no one”.
The Fianna Fáil leader said he deeply regrets the move from Mr Trump and sees “no justification” for it.
“We will now reflect with our EU partners on how best to proceed,” Mr Martin added.
Additional reporting Mícheál Lehane
Article Source – Govt expects US measures on pharma sector, says Tánaiste – RTE
