Four-month suspension of €105m per year tariff on Irish foods exported to USA

Welcome for initiative to improve EU-US trade relationship 

A €105 million per year tariff on Irish agri-food exports to the  US has been lifted for a four-month period.

Agriculture Minister Charlie McConalogue said on Friday evening it  is "a great opportunity, for both the EU and United States, to engage in a constructive dialogue to find a permanent resolution to these long-running disputes.”

Introduced on selected EU  exports to the US in October, 2019, as part of the long-running Boeing-Airbus trade dispute, the 25% import tariffs were levied on approximately €422 million of Irish agri-food exports per year, including butter (€190.2m), cheese, (€43.7m), and Irish Cream drinks (€184m).

 Minister of State with responsibility for new market development  Martin Heydon said, “Hopefully, today’s announcement is a signal of the renewal of this historic, positive and enduring transatlantic relationship between the EU and the US. This is a positive development for exports of Irish butter, cheese and Irish Cream to the US market.”

Minister McConalogue acknowledged the significant efforts by the Irish Embassy in Washington in seeking to resolve the dispute.

Earlier, the US and UK had agreed a similar suspension of import tariffs on British agricultural goods such as malt whisky, cheese and specialist meat from Britain in October 2019.

Britain has been a key component maker for Airbus, and the US and EU have been in dispute since 2005 over alleged Government subsidies paid to Airbus and to Boeing.