The Government’s strategy in response to the US trade tariffs is “to optimise the protection of Irish jobs”, Taoiseach Micheál Martin has said.
It was a “fundamental objective”, he said, adding “it’s clear that the scale of these tariffs will be very, very significant in European terms”.
Part of the approach in any countermeasures will be “can we get this to a negotiating table to get a reasonable settlement pattern?” he added.
The “bottom line” is “to get this into a sustainable landing zone ... negotiations are key”, he said.
The Taoiseach told Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald that Ireland and the EU did not believe in tariffs, did not want them and had not started this.
The response will have to be strategic “to ensure that it doesn’t bring more harm on ourselves”.
Ms McDonald called on the Taoiseach to facilitate a meeting of party leaders and expressed disappointment that there was no Dáil debate this week.
She said “successive governments have not put the basics in place to attract FDI without complex tax incentives ... the scenario we now face shows that this must change”.
She also pointed to Ireland’s tax arrangements. “I think you have acknowledged that the tax deals, some of them questionable, it needs to be said and indeed controversial, that that era is now behind us, not least because of the global evolution of the taxation system.”
But Mr Martin defended Ireland’s economic model and insisted “there are no tax deals.”
“Detractors of Ireland always want to try and undermine Ireland in making those assertions which we’ve always, always objected to ... and fought against that idea and that notion,” Mr Martin said.
The Taoiseach added there would be a Dáil debate and that he would facilitate a meeting when the outcome of the impending tariffs was better known.
When the tariffs are announced the most important thing is for everybody in Ireland and the EU to “stay calm and measured”, Tánaiste Simon Harris said earlier.
The Government will have to work through the detail after the Trump administration’s headline announcement, he told the Dáil late on Tuesday night in advance of Wednesday’s expected tariffs.
The Government will assess the announcement and respond “in a calm and measured way”, he said.
Mr Harris said many EU countries have a significant pharmaceutical industry and that he will be speaking to his Swedish counterpart today.
He had also spoken to his English and Dutch counterparts who have an interest in this sector.
He will continue calls with EU counterparts and had already spoken to ministers in Finland, Denmark, Italy, Germany, Slovakia and Croatia.
Mr Harris, who is Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, said he had been in regular contact with EU commissioner for trade and economic security Maroš Šefčovič, was in touch with him on Tuesday night and will have a further call with him.
But he warned that misinformation had started already. “We need to very clearly make the point ... that Europe doesn’t want tariffs. Europe wants talks. We want to sit down at the table with the EU and US to find a way forward that is good for the EU, good for Ireland and good for the United States of America.”
He told Labour foreign affairs spokesman Duncan Smith that was ultimately where “this will have to get to because the trading relationship is worth about €1.6 trillion a year”.
Mr Smith said Ireland has 77,500 people directly employed in pharmaceuticals and medical devices. He said the US tariffs had the capacity to do great damage to the economy with 50,000 to 80,000 jobs at risk.
The Labour TD added that nobody wanted “hysteria” but they had to be ready with a response.
Mr Harris said that at a domestic level they were bringing together Government departments and agencies and on Friday he will be chairing the Government Trade Forum, including industry representatives.
He said they all need to “engage, engage, engage” and that he will be attending an EU meeting of trade ministers in Luxembourg on Monday.
When asked about the potential impact of US tariffs on Ireland, Minister for Public Expenditure Jack Chambers said it was too early to say what the immediate impacts could be when it comes to corporation tax receipts.
“This is where, I suppose, the tail effect of this will go on for a significant and extended period. For example, we may have continued strong receipts through this year, but we know there’s downside risks into the coming years, and that’s why the medium-term fiscal plan, which both myself and the Minister for Finance, Paschal Donohue, will be co-ordinating, would be really important, that we don’t add excessive amounts to our expenditure base or cut taxes when there’s a medium-term risk.”
Speaking on Newstalk, he said: “We need to be very careful in how we calibrate all of our taxation expenditure and we need strong budgetary guardrails and fiscal discipline over the coming years.
“I’ve been absolutely repeating that since I’ve entered in as Minister for Public Expenditure. The focus for me is actually on capital expenditure ... we need to protect capital investment to unlock economic growth for the future in strategic areas like water, energy, transport, and housing.
“And we know that some of the blockages in those particular areas are actually restricting investment decisions presently, and we need to make sure that competitiveness and investment in capital investment to the Irish economy actually drives infrastructure delivery.”
