David McNamara: Trump may choose to view Ireland's VAT as a 'tariff' on US goods
US president Donald Trump speaks to reporters in Florida on Sunday. Mr Trump has not yet targeted the EU directly with tariffs. Picture: Pool via AP
Amidst the flurry of executive orders and the omnipresence of US president Donald Trump across the media, it has been challenging to decipher clear trade policy signals from the noise of the first month of the administration. However, in terms of the geo-economic implications of Trump 2.0, it is clear that tariffs will be a key feature and leverage point in the US relationship with its main trading partners.
To recap, despite numerous announcements, Trump has implemented just one tariff policy thus far – a 10% additional tariff on Chinese goods, with a 25% universal tariff on steel and aluminium imports to follow from mid-March. The later predominately impacts large trading partners of Mexico and Canada, as well as other partners in Brazil and Germany. Universal tariffs on Mexico and Canada were put on hold for now, giving - perhaps false - comfort to other partners and markets that the administration may take a more pragmatic approach to trade policy if a deal is available to the president.
