Statement by the Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs, Simon Harris TD

The Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Simon Harris TD, has this morning said that the new tariff arrangement between the United States and the European Union has now commenced.

While this provides some degree of certainty after months of uncertainty and a vacuum for businesses in Ireland, the EU, and the US, there is much work still to do in the days, weeks, and months ahead.

Speaking this morning, the Tánaiste said: “It’s absolutely essential that we continue, at a European level, to engage with what is a framework agreement and seek to maximise the number of areas in which there can be zero-for-zero when it comes to tariffs.

“Whilst there are some areas that have already been agreed as exempt from tariffs between the US and the EU, I’m very eager to see more progress made in more areas, including for the drinks industry, which is an important part of the Irish economy.

“We’ll also need to continue to work in the time ahead to tease through the detail in relation to particular sectors. From a pharma point of view, my position remains the same, as does the position of the European Union. There is huge potential and scope for the EU and the US to work together in the interests of patients, their economies, and the pharma industry.

“In many ways, the EU and the US are interdependent when it comes to pharma. In the very first instance, it’s vital that the US keeps its agreement in terms of a tariff rate of no higher than 15% on the pharma industry.

“But actually, in the time ahead, it’s important that we seek to further improve that. US pharma companies need to have a base in the European Union — and Ireland has been a very constructive, very good home for those businesses. They’ve done very well in Ireland.

“We need to continue to make sure that nothing happens that causes disruption to the industry or to global supply chains. So, there’s much work to do in the weeks and months ahead.

“We also must continue to control what we can control and continue to make our country, and our European Union, as competitive as possible, as good a location as possible to invest in and create jobs.

“We must also look for other opportunities to diversify markets for Irish business. While we want to continue to do business with the US and indeed want to grow business. It is important that we take every opportunity to identify new markets. This month we will publish Ireland’s new Market Diversification Action Plan

“And I think this will be important in the time ahead.”

ENDS

Press Office

07 August 2025