Heydon: Baseline 10% tariff on exports to US 'looking more likely'
Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine Martin Heydon has said that a baseline 10% tariff on exports to the US is "looking more likely".
US President Donald Trump signed an executive order yesterday (Monday, July 7) extending the deadline for the imposition on reciprocal tariffs on a range of trading partners, including the European Union.
The order means that the deadline, which had been due to fall tomorrow (Wednesday, July 9), will now be pushed back to August 1.
The proposed US reciprocal tariffs could result in the baseline tariff, which is currently at 10%, increasing to 50% for the EU.
Speaking with Agriland, Minister Heydon said that Ireland obviously wants "the best deal possible".
"A 'no deal' this week and 50% tariffs would have been very, very bad for us, so we didn't want that.
"I'm glad that we've created a little bit more space here, but the uncertainty is really hurting us as well, for our agrifood sector, for our food businesses, for our drinks businesses. We can't continue to have that uncertainty long-term either.
"We discussed this at Cabinet this morning. The Tánaiste Simon Harris briefed us again in terms of the latest state of play.
"It is looking more likely that we may well have that baseline 10% tariff is something that will be there that we'll have to live with in the future," he said.
Minister Heydon highlighted to his Cabinet colleagues that some products such as Irish butter, which has the second biggest market share in the US, has an existing 16% tariff.
"So even a 10% baseline tariff on the agri-food sector would involve Irish butter having a 26% tariff in the US market," he said.
The minister added that Irish butter exports to the US were worth €0.5 billion in 2024.
"The vast majority of that produce coming from suppliers to 15 different co-ops the length and breadth of this country.
"The majority of them farmers being in derogation - these two issues aren't divorced from each other they are connected in many ways.
"This is trade. This is real economic activity for our country, so we continue to engage," he said.
Minister Heydon said he is "very happy" that EU Commissioner for Trade Maros Sefcovic and the European Commission "are doing everything in their power to get as good a deal as possible for Europe".
"We want to get back to zero-for-zero tariffs on many products, if and where we can, but a 'no deal' here would be very bad as well," he said.
The minister also believes EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, Commissioner Sefcovic, and EU Commissioner for Agriculture Christophe Hansen "are very keenly aware of Ireland's priorities here and the priorities for our overall economy".
"Our agri-food sector is a key part of that with €2 billion of exports into the US last year," Minister Heydon said.
