AGRICULTURE MINISTER MARTIN Heydon will this week meet with US Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins about tariffs imposed by the Trump administration. 

Heydon travels to the US, taking in visits to Washington DC, Kentucky and Chicago, a day ahead of Tánaiste Simon Harris, who plans to meet US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick on Wednesday. 

Speaking to The Journal before boarding his flight to the State yesterday, Heydon set out his upcoming busy schedule of meetings, which includes discussions with high-ranking officials and congressional committees.

He plans to visit Kentucky and Chicago to engage with Irish companies like Altec and Kerry Group, which he said significantly contribute to the American economy.

When asked what the best hope is for his trip stateside, Heydon said it is to communicate the very strong, mutually beneficial relationship Ireland has with the US, and “notwithstanding the different views” on the trade tariffs, to highlight that Europe wants to create time and space for negotiations. 

Harris made a similar point yesterday when speaking to reporters in Luxembourg where he was attending an emergency meeting of EU trade minister. 

“Anything that I say in Washington in the coming days will be in support of the European Union efforts to get to a place of engagement and negotiation. I really believe that if people get around the table, a way forward can be found,” said the Tánaiste. 

Harris said he is looking forward to having an engagement with Secretary Lutnick, stating that it is “always important to keep the lines of communication open, to share insights, to pick up the latest views, but also to really stress that the relationship that Ireland and the US have is two way”.  

The meeting between the two men takes place just a few days after the US Commerce Secretary said Ireland runs a “tax scam”, something the Irish government has denied. 

Since the announcement of tariffs last week, concerns have been raised that tariffs on EU exports will seriously impact the Irish dairy sector and the Irish whiskey sector. 

Kentucky bourbon

While in Kentucky, Heydon will visit the Heaven Hill bourbon distillers. 

Trump has threatened a 200% tariff on all European alcohol imports – a move that would have a particularly negative impact on Ireland’s whiskey producers.

It is understood that Ireland has made representations to the EU Commission for bourbon to be removed from any retaliatory tariff list, for fear of further retribution from the US side on Irish whiskey. 

“We have made the case, with European colleagues, in terms of why it is so important that we continue to engage on that. It would be better if we didn’t have those measures on the list, that would hurt European countries [and] companies more than American [ones] but we have continued to engage,” he told The Journal.

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The minister explained that bourbon is made in wooden casks in Kentucky, which are then sold to Irish distilleries to make Irish whiskey.

“That’s an element of trade that would probably be unknown,” said Heydon, who added that it is a trade relationship that is both beneficial to the American and Irish companies. 

Kerrygold Butter

Speaking about Kerrygold Butter, which is currently the second-biggest butter brand in the US – making it one of Ireland’s most valuable exports across the Atlantic – the minister said Irish farmers feed into 15 different co-ops that help produce the butter. 

“They get a price bonus per litre of milk because of the success [of the butter] in the premium market,” he said. 

If the tariffs are rolled out, the price of Kerrygold Butter stateside will cost more for American consumers, he said. 

“American consumers will be upset about it getting a lot more expensive. But also, if those sales were to drop, that will have a direct impact on our dairy farmers and on our dairy processing sector,” said Heydon.

The agriculture minister will also hold a series of meetings on Capitol Hill with members of Congress, Senate chairs and members of the Ways and Means Committee, including Richie Neal, and members of the Irish caucus.