Ireland and EU must 'engage intensively' on trade with Trump administration, says Tánaiste

Tánaiste Simon Harris said the US is 'reliant' on foreign direct investment. Picture: Virginia Mayo/AP

Ireland is ready to do business with US president Donald Trump's administration, Tánaiste Simon Harris said in calling for "early engagement" with the US.

The minister for foreign affairs has said the US is "reliant" on foreign direct investment, and it is now "really important" that this country and the wider European Union intensively engage on trade.

He said countries must now engage with Mr Trump in "a way which he relates to" by stressing the benefits of doing business with the EU.

"We can do business with the Trump administration, my country has done business with every US administration," he said.

Attending his first EU Foreign Affairs Council meeting in Brussels, Mr Harris said it was being held at "a time of much geopolitical uncertainty and challenges".

He said that, as the democratically elected leader, Mr Trump will decide the direction of his country for the next four years and that is the "reality in which the EU finds itself".

"I think Europe should not just become a multilateral organisation that talks about Mr Trump, we should also be one that talks about what we are going to do ourselves.

We are not just commentators on the outcomes of other people's elections, we are the European Union

"There are hundreds of millions of us. There are 27 countries and we must now control what we can control," he said.

Strength and unity

Mr Harris told EU colleagues that Europe must engage with Mr Trump’s administration from a position of strength and unity by investing in infrastructure and driving competitiveness.

"I think it's absolutely vital that the EU and the US establish a deep, meaningful, working relationship," Mr Harris said.

"The US is reliant on foreign direct investment, it was before the inauguration, before the US presidential election. 

The US and EU are dependent on each other both before and after the presidential election

"Now that Mr Trump is in office, it is really, really important that we engage intensively on trade and how we can do business together," Mr Harris told reporters.

The Tánaiste also held a number of bilateral meetings, including with EU commissioner for trade and economic security Maros Sefcovic.

At the meeting of foreign ministers, the Tánaiste said the US and EU trade relationship and broad relationship was interdependent before the election of president Donald Trump. Mr Harris added that that reality remains even after the election and his recent inauguration.

He stressed the importance of investing in infrastructure, driving competitiveness, and engaging with the new US administration from a position of strength and from a place of unity.

The Tánaiste also held a phone call with Britain's foreign secretary David Lammy, where he welcomed the renewed warmth in the Britain-Ireland relationship. 

The call focused on the situation in Ukraine, the Middle East, and Sudan, and they also discussed the importance of the transatlantic relationship. 

The pair agreed on the need to maintain a greater focus on the security and humanitarian crisis in Sudan, the importance of the protection of civilians, and the need to bring about a negotiated solution to the violence.