David McNamara: Little Ireland playing an outsized role in EU trade stats

The European economy may also be experiencing something of a 'sugar high' as exporters front-run tariffs. File picture: Larry Cummins

Amid current global trade uncertainty, economy watchers have been parsing the incoming data for any signs of slowdown. 

While US confidence surveys have taken a nosedive in recent weeks, there are fewer signs on this side of the Atlantic of any discernible impact. This may, in part, be due to where European economies were in the business cycle versus a hot US economy, coming off a couple of years of very weak growth – the UK and Germany being prime examples.