Christina Finn reports from New York

“WE’RE HEADING FOR a significant period of turbulence”, Tánaiste Simon Harris said today when asked about trade and tariff threats from the US.

Speaking ahead of of travelling to New York today as part of his St Patrick’s Day programme, the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade said: 

“I’m very honest with the Irish people, I think we’re heading for a significant period of turbulence in relation to trade and in relation to tariffs, but I also want to say that we will get through it together, because every disagreement has to be solved by agreement.”

Tariffs “will push up prices of goods for everybody,” warned Harris. 

“Tariffs are bad. Tariffs are bad for consumers in Ireland, they’re bad for consumers in Europe, and they’re bad for consumers in the United States of America,” the Tánaiste added. 

His comments come after the IDA chairman Feargal O’Rourke told the Sunday Independent today that the impact of US tariffs would be “awful”, stating that he expects the next year to also be “turbulent” and “tumultuous”. 

Despite Taoiseach Micheál Martin’s efforts in the Oval Office this week, US President Donald Trump threatened more tariffs on Wednesday, this time on alcohol from the European Union, such as Irish whiskey.

The Tánaiste, whose visit to New York has a key focus on economic and business opportunities, said he is “very satisfied” that at a European level there is a real effort to intensively engage with the United States.

Harris said he hopes the period of disagreement between the two trading blocs will be “as short as possible” before a deal is reached.

A good deal for everyone

“President Trump is a politician, of course, 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 that’s good for Europe, good for Ireland, good for the United States,” said Harris. 

A memo will be brought to Cabinet by Harris on Wednesday to update ministers on the various trade developments and announcements in recent days.

Harris confirmed today that he will also hold a number of bilateral calls with his European trade counterparts “to take stock and share insights”. 

On Friday, the Tánaiste will convene the Government’s Trade Forum, which will bring together all relevant government departments, state agencies and stakeholders, including business representative groups. 

This will allow for business sectors from various parts of the Irish economy to give their perspective on the fast-changing trade landscape.

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The Tánaiste wrote to members of the trade forum in advance of his visit to the US this week. He also plans to update the forum on his call earlier this week with Maros Sefcovic, the European Commissioner for Trade and Economic Security.

Need for intense engagement between US and EU

Speaking in Philadelphia this afternoon, Harris said:

“We are extremely eager to see more engagement happen in the days ahead between the US and the [European] Union.

“We don’t need to engage in kind of tit-for-tat in terms of running commentary. We respect the fact that the President of the United States has a view. We might have a different view, and we respect his view. We have a view as well in the European Union. And we want to get down to the business of trying to make progress in relation to this.”

The Tánaiste called for “calm”, stating:

“We need to be reasonable and we need to be willing to engage intensely.”