Govt to convene trade forum ahead of US tariffs deadline
The Government is to hold a special meeting of Ireland's trade forum for next Wednesday - a week out from the scheduled lifting of the pause on higher tariffs by the US.
The Tánaiste Simon Harris who is also the Minister for Trade, met the Italian Trade Minister on Monday and will talk with his New Zealand Counterpart this morning.
The forum is made up of Government departments, business groups and trade unions.
The US administration has set July 9th as the deadline for the imposition of higher tariffs on the EU replacing the 10% temporary tariffs currently in place unless a trade deal is reached.
The Tánaiste said "There are less than two weeks to go until we reach the deadline set by US President Donald Trump for a deal to be struck with the European Union.
"In recent days I have been talking with the President Trump's US Trade Representative and the EU Trade Commissioner.
"We appear to have reached a situation now whereby the imposition of 10% tariffs has become accepted as a norm or some kind of baseline. This is concerning as even that level of tariff is challenging for many sectors of the economy."
The Tánaiste said he would be making the case for zero for zero tariffs in any many areas as possible.
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