Simon Harris: EU and US should discuss tariffs to avoid trade war

As Ursula von der Leyen announces retaliatory levies on €26bn of US goods, Tánaiste urges engagement instead of 'tit-for-tat' tariffs 

Tánaiste Simon Harris: 'Let’s engage. Let’s not get into a tit-for-tat situation of tariffs. Let’s instead find a way forward.' Picture: Brian Lawless/PA 

Europe must be “calm” and take its time considering retaliatory tariffs on the US, the Tánaiste has said.

The EU has announced it will impose trade “countermeasures” on up to €26bn worth of US goods in retaliation to Donald Trump’s tariffs on steel and aluminium imports, escalating a global trade war. However, Simon Harris says time must be taken to consider the tariffs, a reaction to 25% US levies on global imports of the metals.

The retaliatory measures include Brussels reimposing tariffs on US goods including bourbon whiskey, jeans, and Harley-Davidson motorbikes, which it introduced during the first Trump term and later suspended after talks with his successor, Joe Biden.

These tariffs, which target notable US goods worth €4.5bn, often from Republican states, will come into force on April 1. The list was worth €6.3bn in 2018 but has shrunk because of Brexit and declining US exports.

In his White House meeting with Micheál Martin, Mr Trump did not back down from the idea of tariffs.

“We’re going to be doing reciprocal tariffs so whatever they charge us with, we’re charging them," Mr Trump said. "Nobody can complain about that.”

Mr Harris said the EU and US must use the time until April to discuss the plan in a bid to avoid damaging tariffs.

“It’s very regrettable to see the imposition of any tariffs, but it is important that we remind ourselves of this fact; There is now a period of weeks when the EU wants to engage intensively with the US before introducing any retaliatory tariffs,” he said.

The EU-US economic relationship is interdependent, doing trade with each other, doing business, and is good for jobs and for citizens on both sides of the Atlantic. 

"And something Ireland will be very eager to put across to the EU and the US is, of course, the need to try and find a way forward.

“We’re proud members of the EU, we believe that the EU is right now to take the approach of saying, 'let’s engage. Let’s not get into a tit-for-tat situation of tariffs. Let’s instead find a way forward'.”

European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen called the 25% US levies on global imports of the metals “unjustified trade restrictions”, after they came into force at 4am Irish time on Wednesday. 

“We deeply regret this measure,” Ms von der Leyen said, announcing “strong, but proportionate” countermeasures would come into force from April 1.

“Tariffs are taxes, they are bad for business and worse for consumers. They are disrupting supply chains. They bring uncertainty for the economy,” she said.

The process launched by the Commission in response to US tariffs will proceed under the EU’s Enforcement Regulation, considering the US measure effectively as a safeguard measure. As the first step in this process, a two-week stakeholder consultation will run until March 26, before the tariffs come into effect a week later.

Separately, the Commission plans further retaliation targeting goods worth €18bn, including a wide range of steel and aluminium products, as well as agricultural produce, such as poultry, beef, seafood, and nuts. These tariffs would be imposed from mid-April, after a vote by EU members and consultations with industry in an attempt to minimise damage to the European economy.

European officials have said these tariffs will specifically focus on Republican-led states, with soya beans which are grown in Louisiana, the state of US speaker of the House, Mike Johnson, particularly in focus. Further steps have not been ruled out. France’s European affairs minister, Benjamin Haddad, said on Wednesday the EU could “go further” in its response to the US tariffs.