{"id":298071,"date":"2025-07-28T09:03:13","date_gmt":"2025-07-28T09:03:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/298071\/"},"modified":"2025-07-28T09:03:13","modified_gmt":"2025-07-28T09:03:13","slug":"tariffs-arent-good-news-but-it-could-have-been-worse","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/298071\/","title":{"rendered":"Tariffs aren’t good news but it could have been worse"},"content":{"rendered":"

While the crucial US EU trade deal announced this weekend does bring certainty for businesses, there are significant drawbacks.<\/p>\n

Fundamentally, tariffs are negative for trade.<\/p>\n

The US is a significant export market for Ireland, and many sectors now face duties of 15% which did not exist last year.<\/p>\n

The biggest issue is pharmaceuticals, which are the largest Irish export to the US, valued at \u20ac44bn in 2024.<\/p>\n

In recent months US President Donald Trump had threatened enormous duties on drugs imported by the US.<\/p>\n

He had ordered a national security investigation of the pharmaceutical sector.<\/p>\n

Last night, T\u00e1naiste Simon Harris said his understanding was that after the investigation concludes the maximum tariff which could be imposed would be 15%.<\/p>\n

So, while the threat of more damaging duties is averted, pharmaceuticals made in Ireland may well face 15% tariffs in future, up from zero at present.<\/p>\n

\"Whiskey
\nA decision on tariffs on spirits is critically important to Ireland’s whiskey industry<\/p>\n

Another key sector for Ireland is the manufacture of computer chips.<\/p>\n

Like pharmaceuticals it has been subject to a separate investigation by the Trump administration and faced the possibility of punitive tariffs, but it too could face a 15% tariff after the investigation ends.<\/p>\n

Last night, European Commission President Ursula Von Der Leyen said there was no decision yet regarding spirits exported to the US.<\/p>\n

This is critically important to Ireland’s whiskey industry which has already seen several recent closures.<\/p>\n

There had been speculation that sector could have been part of a zero-for-zero tariff arrangement, but that is not yet agreed.<\/p>\n

Another important area for Ireland is aircraft leasing.<\/p>\n

Ms von Der Leyen said last night that aviation would be part of a tariff-free arrangement.<\/p>\n

Read more: EU-US trade deal will help protect Irish jobs – Taoiseach<\/a><\/b><\/p>\n

For other EU countries the massive duty of 27.5% which was imposed on European cars now falls to 15%.<\/p>\n

Some existing tariffs will be folded into that baseline 15%, meaning it would be an all-in tariff.<\/p>\n

For example, it is expected to include the existing “most favoured nation” duties of 4.8% which exist currently under World Trade Organization rules.<\/p>\n

The fact there is a deal at all avoids the threat of a prolonged tit-for-tat trade war.<\/p>\n

It means businesses can plan, investments can be made, and job-creating projects can proceed.<\/p>\n

But exporters are already seeking Government support as they navigate the new reality of the Trump administration\u2019s tariffs.<\/p>\n

The EU-US agreement is not a trade deal in the usual sense.<\/p>\n

Normally these pacts are negotiated over years and culminate in a document running to hundreds of pages.<\/p>\n

What was announced yesterday was the framework of a deal with much detail yet to be finalised.<\/p>\n

Yesterday wasn\u2019t the end of the negotiations, but it was a milestone.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"While the crucial US EU trade deal announced this weekend does bring certainty for businesses, there are significant…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":298072,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3090],"tags":[51,1700,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-298071","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-economy","8":"tag-business","9":"tag-economy","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114930057542630393","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/298071","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=298071"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/298071\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/298072"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=298071"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=298071"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=298071"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}