Watch: Trade tariffs are 'not a one way street' warns Heydon
There are 770 Irish companies based in America employing thousands of people, sourcing product locally, the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine said today (Thursday, April 3) as he starkly warned that trade tariffs are 'not a one way street".
Speaking to Agriland Minister Martin Heydon said that there is "mutually beneficial" trade between the US and Ireland and that "the introduction of tariffs can hurt on both sides".
Minister Heydon however also stressed that Ireland is a small, open economy and the agri-food sector "benefits greatly from the trade we do".
"We export 90% of the food and drink we produce and the US is our second most important market after the UK.
"If you look at last year alone we had almost €2 billion worth of agri food produce exported into the US - it is a key market for us and barriers to trade don't benefit us, don't benefit our companies and our citizens, but they'll hurt American consumers and companies as well.
"Both countries have benefited really well from that interconnected element of our trade," Minister Heydon said.
He also told Agriland that he plans to "take every opportunity" when he leads a trade mission to the US next week to "communicate that with senior political leaders in Washington as well as US and Irish food companies who are based over there".
There has been dismay in Ireland to President Donald Trump's announcement that he plans to impose “reciprocal tariffs”, including a 20% tariff on the EU as whole, which will cover EU – and Irish – agri-food.
Farm organisations, representing thousands of farmers, have warned of the potential threat these could pose to livelihoods in Ireland.
Minister Heydon said the Irish government recognises that the EU does need to respond but it also needs to be informed of the impact of tariffs on countries like Ireland every other member of state.
"I want to recognise the fact that the response from the EU is calm it's measured and and it gives us the time and space for negotiations - whenever there are conflicts, whenever there are disputes, whenever there are disagreements they normally end in agreement after a period of negotiation.
"We'll do plenty of negotiating, we'll make sure that the EU is well informed of our position and how that goes, but also in terms of our those relationships and our bonds with America and the US administration, we'll build on them," Minister Heydon added.
Additional reporting by Hugh Harney
