‘We need support for indigenous Irish businesses' – distillery boss says 15pc tariffs would be ‘extremely challenging'
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Irish Independent
2 minutes ago
- Irish Independent
US confirms 15pc tariff to include pharma, but more ‘horse trading' yet to come
A fact sheet published on the White House website yesterday showed the tariff rate would apply to pharmaceuticals and semiconductors. The clarification should bring an end to the confusion that has surrounded this aspect of the EU-US trade deal, which was finalised by US president Donald Trump and European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen on Sunday. The multinationals based here, such as Pfizer and Eli Lilly, export about €40bn of pharma to the US each year. There is still uncertainly over many key issues, with discussions continuing on whether products such as wine and spirits will be exempt from the 15pc rate. US commerce secretary Howard Lutnick cast many of the issues surrounding the US-EU trade pact as still up for discussion, saying there was 'plenty of horse trading left to do'. EU Commission trade spokesperson Olof Gill described the framework trade agreement yesterday as a 'political commitment', rather than a legally binding document. He said that Brussels and Washington were now working on a joint statement, which will be treated as 'an agreement in principle', that will give the bloc a 'political road map to where we take it from here'. 'Both sides are working very hard now to get the details of that signed up,' he told RTÉ Radio 1. 'We're hoping to do that before the deadline of August 1 set by the US. 'What we're talking about here are political commitments. This joint statement I mentioned isn't a legally binding document. These are commitments.' In relation to agriculture and the fact that Northern Ireland and the Republic have two different tariffs applied to their goods, he said details 'can be worked out'. ADVERTISEMENT 'We're not at the end of the process here, we're at the start of the process,' he said. There is still scepticism that the EU will be able to fulfil its promise to buy $750bn (€650bn) of American energy over three years. The bloc's energy imports from the US were less than $80bn last year. The fact sheet published yesterday by the US stated: 'As part of President Trump's strategy to establish balanced trade, the European Union will pay the United States a tariff rate of 15pc, including on autos and auto parts, pharmaceuticals and semiconductors.' The sectoral tariffs on steel, aluminium and copper will remain unchanged, with the EU continuing to pay 50pc. Deal creates enormous opportunities for American-made and American-grown goods The fact sheet claimed that the 'colossal' trade deal will enable American farmers, the fishing industry and manufacturers to increase their sales to the EU, thereby reducing the trade deficit. It also said the EU will remove all tariffs on US industrial goods that it imports, which creates 'enormous opportunities for American-made and American-grown goods to compete and win in Europe'. In terms of US food imports to Europe, the fact sheet said the two sides will work together to address non-tariff barriers that affect trade. These barriers are likely to include certain food standards that are applied to beef and chicken, and 'streamlining requirements for sanitary certificates for US pork and dairy products'. Mr Trump's administration is conducting a separate investigation of pharma imports to America to assess if over-reliance on them is a threat to national security. The expectation is that the results of this investigation, expected next month, will lead to a hefty tariff on pharma. Mr Trump has threatened a levy of up to 200pc as he attempts to strong-arm US pharma companies to re-shore their manufacturing operations in America. Niall Cunneen, associate partner for Ireland and the UK at global consultancy group Sia, described the White House confirmation of the 15pc tariff rate as a 'blow to Ireland'. 'This is a sector that underpins roughly 20pc of our GDP and employs tens of thousands of people in high-value roles across the country,' he told the Irish Independent. 'The idea that this could be swept up in a political deal, without legal guarantees or clear carve-outs, is concerning.' 'If the US follows through with additional pressure under the Section 232 investigation, we could face a slow erosion of future investment and a lasting effect on long-term planning from multinationals based here. 'We're now looking at a future where one of our most important industries is directly exposed to US political cycles and trade tactics.' Public Expenditure Minister Jack Chambers said yesterday that the risk of a 30pc tariff would have been 'severely damaging for the Irish economy' and said the 'stability and the predictability of what's being set out here gives ... certainty to the business community, and gives certainty to investments'.
Irish Independent
2 minutes ago
- Irish Independent
Almost $10m worth of contraceptives set to be torched by US as part of cuts to foreign aid
Governments and family planning providers in France and Belgium – where the items were held in a warehouse – have been scrambling to block the US from destroying the supplies. The products, which include contraceptive pills, implants and IUDs (intrauterine devices or coils) and have already been paid for by US taxpayers, are being sent to a specialist facility to be incinerated, at an additional cost of $167,000. That's despite offers from charities including MSI Reproductive Choices and the International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) to take on the costs of donating the contraception. The Belgian ministry of foreign affairs had also said it was, 'exploring all possible avenues to prevent the destruction of these stocks, including their temporary relocation'. A ministry spokesperson said the department had acted as soon as the plans to destroy stocks of contraception came to its attention – including sending formal diplomatic representations to the US embassy. French member of parliament Soumya Bourouaha asked in an official question on Monday for the prime minister to, 'do everything possible to save these contraceptive stocks and deliver them to the populations who need them'. However, the negotiations faltered, The Independent understands. The supplies are understood to now be in the process of being transferred between the two countries. Unintended pregnancies in countries with high maternal mortality and no access to safe abortion can be a death sentence. Research by the Guttmacher Institute, a reproductive rights research group, has found the $600m spent on family planning overseas by the US government last year prevented 34,000 maternal deaths and over five million unsafe abortions. The contraception was purchased under a contract managed by development firm Chemonics, which has been partly cancelled as part of the Donald Trump's deep cuts to foreign aid. Two family planning charities said they had been told by representatives of the project that the destruction of contraceptives was part of an effort to save money, despite the fact the supplies have already been paid for. MSI's associate advocacy director Sarah Shaw said: 'This isn't about government efficiencies. This is about exporting an ideology that's harmful to women.' To give one example, she said, 'the annual contraceptive bill for Senegal for the entire country is $3m dollars a year'. 'So the contents of that warehouse could have met all of Senegal's contraceptive needs for three years. And instead we're going to see massive shortages. 'We're going to see Senegalese women dying of unsafe abortion, girls having to drop out of school,' she said.
Irish Independent
2 minutes ago
- Irish Independent
Social media giant X loses High Court challenge to online safety code
X International Unlimited Company, which operates X, had alleged that the media regulator engaged in 'regulatory overreach' in its approach to restrictions on certain video content. Coimisiún na Meán's online safety code, which was adopted last October and came into effect earlier this month, sets out legally binding rules for video-sharing platforms, and is aimed at protecting the public – especially children – from harmful online content. The new Online Safety Code obliges video-sharing platforms to put measures in place to protect children from harmful content online, to have age-assurance measures where appropriate, to provide parental controls, and to have user-friendly reporting mechanisms. The commission has argued that, as Ireland's regulator for online safety, it developed rules and regulations rooted in Irish and EU legislation following extensive consultation. X, owned by Elon Musk, had sought a High Court order compelling the commission to quash its decision to adopt certain sections of the code. The company also sought the court to overturn the commission's decision to apply the code to its platform. It took particular issue with a section of the code that requires video-sharing platforms to preclude users from uploading or sharing video that the code defines as 'restricted' which can include content that bullies or humiliates a person, or promotes eating disorder behaviour, suicide or self-harm, or behaviour prejudicial to the safety of children. X said the definition was 'broadly framed' and that the EU's Audiovisual Media Services Directive draws a clear distinction between illegal content and 'legal but harmful' content. In a judgment, Mr Justice Conleth Bradley said on Tuesday he was refusing the reliefs sought by X. The judge dismissed several arguments made by the platform in the proceedings, including that the code was out of step with European legislation. The judge found that the code did not go beyond what is permitted by the Audiovisual Media Service Directive (AVMSD), a European Union directive that underpins the code, and said that the code was not in conflict with the Digital Services Act, a European Union regulation that also sets out rules for online content. In the context of this case, the judge noted the Digital Services Act treats provisions in the AVMSD 'in a complementary manner'. The latter directive is not 'displaced or substantially curtailed' by the Digital Services Act, the judge said, as had been submitted by X. The AVMSD compliments the Digitial Services Act in 'providing specific rules in determining what content can be harmful to minor', the judge noted. X had submitted that in adopting the sections complained of in the safety code, Coimisiún na Meán went beyond what is permitted by the AVMSD, allowing for a total ban or prohibition of certain online content. X said that the directive only allows for measures to control access to certain online content. X also argued that parts of the code strayed into the regulation of matters within the scope of the Digital Services Act, a European Union regulation that also sets out rules for online content. Further to this, X argued that the code was in conflict with the provisions of the Digital Services Act. The judgment will be formalised later in the week. Mr Justice Bradley said he was minded to make an order for costs in favour of the commission, given it has been entirely successful in defending the action.
