US tariffs will mean 'serious costs' for families and businesses, Chambers warns

Ireland will also need to move to a position of stronger fiscal discipline when it comes to budgetary management, public expenditure minister Jack Chambers said, 'and that isn't just related to the international picture'. Picture: Leah Farrell/RollingNews.ie

Donald Trump's EU tariffs will impose serious costs on families and businesses and negatively impact everyone involved, Jack Chambers has said.

The public expenditure minister warned that Mr Trump's imposition of 25% tariffs on EU exports to the US would have negative consequences for Ireland's economy.

"Deglobalisation, the imposition of tariffs, all represent risk going forward in the short to medium term," Mr Chambers said.

"It will have significant disruption to well-embedded supply chains transatlantic in nature between Ireland, Europe, and the US, and will impose serious costs on workers, families and businesses, both in the European Union but also in the US."

The department of finance is taking all of these potential risks under careful consideration and trying to calibrate the respective impacts.

The Government will work to protect workers and businesses in Ireland while Europe will also be assessing the overall impact in terms of the European economy, he said.

Mr Chambers said he believes a lot of the foreign direct investment currently in Ireland will take a longer view in terms of their positioning but when it comes to new US companies, they will likely take tariffs into consideration when deciding where to locate.

We have to assess what area of the economy [tariffs] could be targeted at and how they will disrupt overall global supply chains, but they will impose greater costs on households and businesses and will disrupt overall trade which could have an impact on the overall macroeconomic in Ireland.

International trade is the backbone of Ireland's economic model and so while there is a need to try and preserve our relationship with the US, it is also important to strengthen relationships with other countries around the world.

"The sooner we move to a position that promotes free trade, which benefits citizens, I think that is beneficial for all countries," Mr Chambers said.

Ireland will also need to move to a position of stronger fiscal discipline when it comes to budgetary management, Mr Chambers said, "and that isn't just related to the international picture".

"That is why I am going to progress a review of the public financial procedures that we have so that we try and anchor greater fiscal discipline in all spending decisions," the Dublin TD said.

The review will commence in the next few weeks and is expected to take a number of months to conclude.