Tánaiste to meet US Secretary Howard Lutnick in Washington in wake of Trump tariffs

Tánaiste and foreign affairs and trade minister Simon Harris speaking to the media after Friday's Trade Forums with business representatives and trade unions. Picture: Leah Farrell/Rolling News

Tánaiste Simon Harris is to travel to the US on Wednesday to meet his counterpart Howard Lutnick in the wake of Donald Trump imposing 20% tariffs on goods coming from the EU.

Mr Harris has secured a meeting with the US Secretary of Commerce, who previously described Ireland as his favourite “tax scam”.

It is understood that planning is underway for Mr Harris to visit the US for trade and wider political meetings with the Trump Administration and Congress. He had spoken to Howard Lutnick before the Rose Bowl press conference where Donald Trump announced near worldwide trade tariffs as high as 46%.

The Irish Government is prepared to assist businesses impacted by US tariffs, as representative lobby organisation Ibec warns that some workers may be placed on short-term work amid falling demand.

Mr Harris said there will be ongoing engagement with trade unions and employer bodies, while also highlighting schemes in place to assist workers place on short-term work.

However, the Tánaiste said that he didn’t want to “jump over” the work which is ongoing to mitigate the situation.

“I absolutely know there isn’t any scheme the benefit of which would outweigh progress that we can make in terms of getting to a better place with tariffs in the days and weeks ahead,” Mr Harris said.

“That’s what our focus as a Government should rightly be on.”

Mr Harris said the Government would monitor the impact of US tariffs on the economy and businesses in the weeks ahead.

It comes as Ibec chief Danny McCoy warned of some of the immediate effects of tariffs, particularly on the drinks industry, as he left the Government’s meeting of the trade forum. He said: 

There is immediacy for some firms this weekend, who know that their demand is likely to drop quite substantially and their workers will need to go on short-time working. 

He said that this was likely to particularly impactful sectors with FMCGs (fast-moving consumer goods), which includes Ireland’s drinks sector.

When asked if he had received warnings from Ibec members about workers' hours being cut, Mr McCoy said: “Warnings would be too strong a word, it’s just the reality of the market.

Mr Harris said that Ireland would need to take the Trump administration “at their word” and he also expected pharmaceutical exports to be targeted.

It comes after a meeting of the Government’s trade forum, where Mr Harris updated state bodies and business groups on his latest engagements with EU trade commissioner Maros Sefcovic.

It is understood that there was a “frank and open” conversation about the seriousness of US tariffs on Irish exports, with stakeholders being asked to contribute their views on next steps.

Mr Harris told the meeting that the Government would develop an Action Plan on market diversification within the next six weeks. This would see work among state bodies and embassies seeking to grow new Irish markets.