Enterprise Ireland will not advise companies to de-emphasise US despite Trump tariffs threat

Donald Trump has promised to impose at least 10% tariffs on all imports

On the threat of US tariffs Enterprise Ireland chief executive Leo Clancy said they have not been implemented and until they are and the level at which they are set is known 'it's very hard to judge that they might have a negative impact on the market'.

The chief executive of Enterprise Ireland has said it will not be encouraging their client companies to de-emphasise trading with the US despite the threat of tariffs being imposed by the incoming Donald Trump administration.

Mr Trump, who is set to be inaugurated on Monday next week, has promised to introduce a slew of tariffs on imports into the US. During his presidential campaign he said he woud implement at least a 10% tariff on all imports into the US and as high as 60% of imports from China.

All this comes as Ireland continues to see trade with the US increase, with exports more than doubling over the last year.

When asked by reporters whether Enterprise Ireland might seek to help diversify its clients away from the US in light of the incoming administration, its chief executive Leo Clancy said it “won't be encouraging clients to de-emphasise the US”.

“We think of the US as a key market, a nice balance of product and service exports into the US. Our companies also are heavily invested in the US, we have a lot of Irish multinationals that are big US investors already,” he said.

So, a lot of their product is manufactured in the US but their headquarters might be here, innovation might be here. The product is actually manufactured in the US and won't be subject to tariffs on that basis.

Mr Clancy said the US economy was still a good place and like other good economies it had a demand for “high quality products”.

“Irish companies are renowned for higher quality products, and they can certainly command premium prices, particularly in a market that has higher intrinsic demand.” 

This comes as data from the Central Statistics Office shows Ireland’s trade with the US during November totalled just over €8bn — more than double the figure from November 2023.

In an attempt to mitigate the potential impact of tariffs, US importers have sought to stockpile shipments of apparel, toys, furniture and electronics from China before Mr Trump takes power. 

Chinese trade officials on Monday said December exports surged to record levels and cited concerns about escalating trade protectionism in the US and Europe.

The equivalent of 451,000 40-foot containers of goods from China landed at US seaports in December, a year-over-year increase of 14.5%, according to trade data supplier Descartes Systems Group.

On the threat of tariffs specifically, Mr Clancy said they have not been implemented and until they are and the level at which they are set is known “it's very hard to judge that they might have a negative impact on the market”.

Enterprise Ireland’s remit is to help develop Irish-owned businesses. US pharmaceutical and other multinational companies make up a significant amount of the exports to the US from Ireland.

On Tuesday, Enterprise Ireland released its end-of-year results, which showed its client companies created 15,741 jobs last year, resulting in a net job increase of 6,212 jobs. Total employment at companies supported by the agency reached 234,454 in 2024.

Over the three-year period, Enterprise Ireland client companies created nearly 51,000 new jobs and at the end of 2023, more than €34 billion in exports was recorded.

Additional reporting Reuters