Government pushing for key sectors to be exempt from Donald Trump's planned 10pc tariffs

Irish Independent

2 days ago

It is now exactly a week to the July 9 deadline set by US president Donald Trump, after which he has threatened to slap a 50pc tariff on imports from the EU.
Mr Burke said the Government does want a trade deal to be in place by July 9, rather than the deadline being extended, because 'we don't want any uncertainty to continue'. He has also pointed out that there is another deadline – of July 14 – when the European Commission has threatened to hit back with tariffs on some US imports.
It is now expected that a headline or framework deal will be agreed by the deadline, with talks continuing afterwards about the precise details. Mr Trump's administration seems to be insisting on a 10pc baseline tariff, and the focus for Ireland and other EU states is to get a zero-for-zero exemption for some sectors.
'We're very keen to get a carve-out in key sectors that are centrally important to the Irish economy and indeed the European economy,' Mr Burke told a press conference in Dublin. 'We have aircraft leasing here, which is a significant component of the global marketplace. About 65pc of all aircraft leased is through Ireland.
'We have a very important life sciences sector, which is again key to, and strategic, to the resilience of Europe. So we're looking at key sectors like that, to see if we can get a landing zone on those areas.'
The minister said he is 'hopeful rather than confident' about a positive outcome, and pointed out that July 9 is the deadline set by Mr Trump for the conclusion of talks on trade deals with a number of countries. He said this posed a 'huge challenge' to the US administration itself, 'in terms of the bandwidth, to be dealing with so many moving parts'.
Asked if a baseline 10pc tariff and carve-outs for key sectors would now represent a "win' for Ireland, given Mr Trump's threat to impose 50pc levies, Mr Burke said he didn't see any tariff as a win.
'What it would mean for our agri-food sector is 10pc on top of existing tariffs in many of those key areas. We need to see what a new 10pc would mean – if your margin is 6pc, 7pc, 8pc, where does a 10pc tariff leave you? It is a huge concern still.
'Tariffs are bad. They constrain supply, cause supply-chain shortages and, in essence, make goods more expensive for consumers in both countries. That's not a good position to be in.'
The Enterprise Minister said the US negotiators seem to want a quota system, so that America is able to export a certain amount of their key products to Europe, such as cars and beef. He also indicated that final arrangements will not be put in place by July 9.
'There's a lot of concerns in relation to how much of an actual trade deal it is,' he said. 'It's more of a framework for the establishment of further negotiations.'
Mr Burke said the agri-food and drinks sectors were very much on his mind as the trade talks continue.
'Distilleries are going through a huge amount of uncertainty. Right now they have a huge amount of premium product in the US, and margins are significantly under pressure. That's a big concern to the government and we're working through our partners in Europe in connection with them, particularly in relation to counter measures.'
The EU is being represented at the talks by Trade Commissioner Maros Sefcovic, who is due to meet tomorrow with his US counterparts Howard Lutnick and Jamieson Greer. He will then brief EU governments on Friday.