‘Regrettable’ EU-US deal not yet reached, Harris says

It is “regrettable” that the EU and US were not able to agree a framework on tariffs ahead of an earlier deadline, the Tanaiste has said.

Simon Harris said the EU has to “prepare for all scenarios” after US President Donald Trump threatened 30% tariffs against the bloc.

Mr Harris said there was a need to “de-escalate the situation” through a framework deal that would provide certainty for businesses and protect jobs and investment.

The Foreign Affairs Minister made the comments following a meeting with US ambassador to Ireland Ed Walsh.

Speaking at Government Buildings, Mr Harris said: “The message I relayed to the US ambassador is a consistent one and a very straightforward one: we in Ireland, we in Europe, want a deal.

“We want a trade deal that is good for Ireland, good for Europe, good for the United States of America, and I believe there is a clear landing zone in relation to that.”

The EU and US had been engaged in negotiations ahead of a deadline last week, but Mr Trump announced he was pushing back the imposition of a higher rate of tariffs until August 1.

The US president also said he would impose 30% tariffs on the bloc if a deal is not reached, in a move that EU trade commissioner Maros Sefcovic said would make trade between the two regions almost “impossible”.

Mr Harris said: “I believe there was a landing zone very nearly there last week, and it’s regrettable that that wasn’t arrived at.”

However, he said he remained confident that a deal can happen in the days ahead.

The European Commission is due to publish an expanded list of counter-tariffs that would be implemented if an agreement is not reached.

He said the “optimal position” would be to get to a deal where “we can rip up that list and never need to see it implemented”.

“A countermeasure list is an important step of saying to President Trump: ‘Hang on, we want a deal here, we want a way forward, but if there isn’t a deal Europe also has options at its disposal’.”

The Tanaiste said the Irish Government will also analyse the list and engage with the commission over any “areas of concern for Ireland” that arise.

Mr Harris’s discussion with Mr Walsh also touched on the issue of the pharmaceutical sector where there is an ongoing section 232 investigation being carried out by the US administration.

The Tanaiste said the pharma sector remains an area of significant concern for Ireland.

“Europe must remain calm, must remain united – our strength is in being united, 460 million of us – and must of course prepare for all scenarios.”

Earlier, European commissioner for democracy, justice, the rule of law and consumer protection Michael McGrath said the bloc’s response to 30% tariffs would be “firm, quick and robust”.

Mr McGrath told RTE Radio 1: “We have two and a half weeks left before the new deadline within which we will leave no stone unturned as a European Union to get the best possible deal for our companies.”

He said that if the 30% tariff is introduced by the US, the EU has measures in place to respond.

“We have been preparing for a range of different scenarios for many months, and so the European Union has been keeping all of the member states, including Ireland, regularly informed of developments, there have been ongoing consultations,” he said.

“I want to underline the importance of unity. What we have been doing in relation to countermeasures is preparing for different scenarios.

“There are two different sets of packages of countermeasures that amount to the imposition of tariffs of exports from the US into the EU of over 90 billion euro.

“We do not wish for that to come to pass, but in the event that it does, then we will need to respond if the US proceeds unilaterally with the imposition of tariffs of the order that President Trump has flagged in his letter over the weekend.”