Tánaiste says EU eager to engage with US over tariffs

Tánaiste Simon Harris has said Ireland and the rest of the EU is in for a period of trade turbulence with the United States.

Speaking in Philadelphia where he is attending St Patrick’s Day festivities, he said that hopes the two sides will keep the period of disagreement as short as possible so they can reach an agreement that is suitable for both sides.

“We’re very clear in Ireland that obviously our membership of the European Union is a core part of who we are. It’s a core part of our economic model, and we’re proudly members of the European Union.

“Only in recent days, I had a very lengthy discussion with the EU trade commissioner Maros Sefcovic, a man very well known to Ireland for the very helpful and constructive role he played in navigating the challenges of Brexit.

“I’m very satisfied that at a European level, there is a real effort to intensively engage with the United States,” Mr Harris said.

He said that tariffs were bad for consumers in Ireland, Europe and the US and will push up the price of goods for everyone.

“The European Union and the United States have interdependent economies. Of that, there is no doubt.

“Now, President Trump has a view. He has every right to have a view. He’s the democratically elected president of the United States. But ultimately, we need to find an agreement here that is good for the European Union, good for Ireland and good for the United States. And that’s where all of our efforts would be at an EU level,” he said.

He said that he intended to bring a memo to Cabinet on Wednesday of next week, as well as engage with trade ministers and his counterparts across the EU.

“I intend to have a number of bilateral calls with fellow counterparts from across the European Union just take stock and share insights,” he added.

“On Friday, I will convene the Government’s trade forum. This brings together all relevant Government departments. It’s a forum I chair, but it also crucially brings together state agencies and stakeholders from outside of Government, including business representative groups”.

He said it will be an opportunity to get a sectoral perspective from various parts of the Irish economy.

“I think we’re heading for a significant period of turbulence in relation to trade and in relation to tariffs, but we will get through it together, because every disagreement has to be solved by agreement.

“President Trump is a politician, of course, but he’s also fundamentally a businessman. He knows and prides himself on the importance of a deal. I want to see a good deal when it comes to trade”.

Mr Harris said he had not had any contact with Commissioner Sefcovic since his Friday phone call with the US commerce Secretary and the US Trade Representative, but said he did have a lengthy conversation with him before leaving for the United States.

He said that Ireland and Europe were extremely eager to see more engagement happen in the days ahead between the US and the EU.

He said that despite having a different view to the US President, that both he and the EU respect his view.

“We don’t need to engage in kind of tit for tat in terms of running commentary. We want to get down to the business of trying to make progress in relation to this.

“There are people who voted for President Trump in every single state of this United States who benefit directly from investment from Europe and investment from Ireland in their economy.

“As I say here, in this great state of Pennsylvania, over 12,000 Pennsylvanians working in Irish owned companies. The state of New York, over 15,000 so this is a really deep economic relationship we need to find a way through we need to be calm, we need to be reasonable and we need to be willing to engage intensively”.