Harris ‘eager’ to progress trade talks to avoid further tariffs

By Cate McCurry, PA

Foreign Affairs Minister Simon Harris has said he is “eager” to see further progress on trade talks around certain sectors, including the drinks industry, as a wave of US tariffs takes effect.

Mr Harris said that while some areas have been agreed as exempt from tariffs between the European Union and the US, he wants to “tease through the detail” of other areas, citing the pharma sector in particular.

US President Donald Trump’s tariffs took effect from Thursday, with exporters in Ireland facing a new 15 per cent rate applying to imports to the US.

It is not yet clear whether the drinks industry will be exempt from the new wave of tariffs.

The Tánaiste said it is “absolutely essential” to maximise the number of areas that can apply zero-for-zero tariffs.

“Whilst there are some areas that have already been agreed as exempt from tariffs between the US and the EU, I’m very eager to see more progress made in more areas, including for the drinks industry, which is an important part of the Irish economy,” Mr Harris said in a statement on Thursday.

“We’ll also need to continue to work in the time ahead to tease through the detail in relation to particular sectors.

“From a pharma point of view, my position remains the same, as does the position of the European Union.

“There is huge potential and scope for the EU and the US to work together in the interests of patients, their economies, and the pharma industry.

“In many ways, the EU and the US are interdependent when it comes to pharma. In the very first instance, it’s vital that the US keeps its agreement in terms of a tariff rate of no higher than 15 per cent on the pharma industry.

“But actually, in the time ahead, it’s important that we seek to further improve that. US pharma companies need to have a base in the European Union – and Ireland has been a very constructive, very good home for those businesses. They’ve done very well in Ireland.

“We need to continue to make sure that nothing happens that causes disruption to the industry or to global supply chains. So, there’s much work to do in the weeks and months ahead.

“We also must continue to control what we can control and continue to make our country, and our European Union, as competitive as possible, as good a location as possible to invest in and create jobs.

“We must also look for other opportunities to diversify markets for Irish business. While we want to continue to do business with the US and indeed want to grow business. It is important that we take every opportunity to identify new markets.”

He said the Government will publish a new Market Diversification Action Plan this month.