The Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade Helen McEntee is expected to highlight concerns about US tariffs affecting Ireland’s medical devices industry, along with pharmaceuticals, agrifood products and whiskey exports, when EU trade ministers meet senior US trade officials in Brussels today.
US commerce secretary Howard Lutnick and US trade representative Jamieson Greer will meet EU ministers over lunch in what marks their first official visit and the most substantial interaction between both sides since a new EU-US trade framework was unveiled in August, reports RTE.
EU trade commissioner Maroš Šefčovič already met both US officials this morning and last night, and is understood to have presented a list of sensitive EU goods that member states want to see subject to lower US tariffs.
The items include pasta, cheese, wines and spirits, as well as olive oil, diamonds, tools, metal piping, ship engine parts, industrial machinery, fabrics, footwear, hats, ceramics and industrial robots, according to Politico, reports RTE.
These products were not included in the trade deal reached in July between US president Donald Trump and European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen in Scotland.
Arriving at the meeting today, Ms McEntee said: “We’ve worked really hard in building our relationship [with the United States] at an Ireland level, but also at an EU level on many matters, including pharma,” reports RTE.
“It’s obviously a really important industry for us. We export a significant amount to the US, but it’s also equally a very important industry for the US. Many of the drugs that are developed in Ireland go on then, and obviously there’s further development in the US,” reports RTE.
She added: “It’s our largest partner, and so we’re going to work really hard, [and] in the EU, making sure that it’s beneficial, not just for industry and business, but for individuals, consumers, for our population as well,” reports RTE.
“We’ll be making the case, as I will be today, to make sure that medtech is very much part of that, to make sure that our whiskey industry and our agri-food industry is part of that as well, and then there’ll be many other areas,” reports RTE.
Earlier, Mr Šefčovič said he had held “positive” discussions with Mr Lutnick and Mr Greer in advance of the ministerial meeting.
“We are well aligned that the EU and US have a robust deal in place, and today it’s about taking stock of its implementation,” he told reporters, reports RTE.
He said the EU was meeting its commitments to the US within the trade agreement, noting that purchases of US LNG, nuclear energy and oil had already reached $200bn this year.
He added: “The US share of EU LNG imports alone has increased from 45% to 60%, driven by long-term contracts. EU investments into the US have also climbed nearly €154bn since January, and we know that the contracts are being negotiated on the purchase of more than $40bn in [advanced] chips for the European economy,” reports RTE.
Mr Šefčovič said further work was required to lower tariffs on EU steel and steel-related exports to the US, and noted that both sides want to reduce tariffs and “confront global overcapacity”.
He added that the EU and US also intend to collaborate on securing stable supplies of critical minerals, and that discussions would include EU relations with China, reports RTE.
Meanwhile, Ms McEntee said she welcomed the “extremely positive” feedback from meetings involving US and Ukrainian officials, as well as senior EU representatives, held in Geneva last night, reports RTE.
“Europe has been very clear: any discussion around the EU [in ending the Ukraine war] must include the EU, and must obviously be agreed by the EU. But I think the soundings yesterday, certainly, and the feedback, [were] very much that this is a step in the right direction,” reports RTE. .
“Of course, we can’t lose sight of the fact that there cannot be any agreement without Ukraine being front and centre. There cannot be any agreement where land is taken or ceded by force, and we have to ensure that the security, not just of Ukraine, but of the EU as a whole, is protected in any agreement,” reports RTE. .
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