{"id":301740,"date":"2025-07-29T17:24:17","date_gmt":"2025-07-29T17:24:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/301740\/"},"modified":"2025-07-29T17:24:17","modified_gmt":"2025-07-29T17:24:17","slug":"clear-understanding-15-tariff-max-will-be-applied-by-us-to-pharma-exports-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/301740\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Clear understanding\u2019 15% tariff max will be applied by US to pharma exports \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Government<\/a> and the European Commission<\/a> have both said it is their \u201cclear understanding\u201d that a maximum 15 per cent tariff<\/a> will be applied by the United States to exports of pharmaceuticals<\/a> and semiconductors. <\/p>\n

Taoiseach <\/a>Miche\u00e1l Martin<\/a> said the Government, and the EU\u2019s chief negotiator Maros Sefcovic had a clear understanding of the tariff ceiling for the two key sectors, which accounted for the bulk of Ireland\u2019s exports of \u20ac72 billion of goods to the US in 2024. <\/p>\n

Senior figures in the European Commission also said its negotiating team had been given commitments by president Donald Trump\u2019s administration on this point. <\/p>\n

\u201cOnce they introduce tariffs on pharma, they will be at the level of 15 per cent,\u201d said a senior EU official involved in the talks.<\/p>\n

Mr Sefcovic, the EU\u2019s trade commissioner said yesterday he believed the \u201ccommitment will be honoured\u201d. <\/p>\n

Mr Martin defended the European Union agreeing to accept tariffs, saying it avoided a trade war that would have been \u201cruinous\u201d to Irish jobs and the economy. <\/p>\n

He said Ireland and Europe had to face \u201cnew realities\u201d and the deal that was struck in Scotland on Sunday between EU Commission president Ursula von der Leyen and Mr Trump was preferable to higher tariffs and a prolonged trade conflict. <\/p>\n

\u201cNew realities are at play. The stability and predictability that this agreement brings is important for businesses and is important for consumers and indeed patients when it comes to the manufacturing and distribution of medicines.\u201d<\/p>\n

[\u00a0EU-US tariffs deal at 15% preferable to \u2018ruinous\u2019 trade war, says TaoiseachOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

\"TheThe EU and the US sides are continuing to work out several finer points of detail. Photograph: Andrew Harnik\/ Getty Images <\/p>\n

Asked about criticism that the deal was a \u201ccapitulation\u201d by the EU, the Taoiseach said he understood the criticism but the avoidance of a trade war was the least worst option.<\/p>\n

It is understood that during the crunch meeting between Mr Trump and Ms von der Leyen, the US president initially pushed for tariffs of 30 per cent before dropping his demand to 21 per cent, and then settling on 15 per cent.<\/p>\n

The EU and the US sides are continuing to work out several finer points of detail, including potentially extending tariff exemptions for aircraft and some medical devices to more sectors. <\/p>\n

EU officials have been pushing for carve-outs to apply to spirits and wine, which would be welcome news to the Irish whiskey industry given it is a big exporter to the US.<\/p>\n

Minister for Finance Paschal Donohoe would not be drawn on the agreement\u2019s impact on the budget in October. There were other (positive) factors such as certainty and resultant economic activity to be considered, said a spokeswoman. <\/p>\n

A further examination would take place closer to budget time, she added. <\/p>\n

Minister for Enterprise Peter Burke will outline key supports for Irish businesses in the face of higher tariffs at Tuesday\u2019s Cabinet meeting. They include a new market research grant of up to \u20ac35,000 which will be available from next month.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Government and the European Commission have both said it is their \u201cclear understanding\u201d that a maximum 15…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":301741,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5311],"tags":[32,2000,14008,681,10057,1201,49,1220,978,659],"class_list":{"0":"post-301740","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-united-states","8":"tag-donald-trump","9":"tag-eu","10":"tag-eu-us-trade","11":"tag-micheal-martin","12":"tag-pharma","13":"tag-trade","14":"tag-united-states","15":"tag-ursula-von-der-leyen","16":"tag-us","17":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114937690348970240","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/301740","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=301740"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/301740\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/301741"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=301740"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=301740"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=301740"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}