Trump's threatened 200% pharma tariff 'would damage everybody' – Micheál Martin
Earlier this week, US president Donald Trump signalled tariffs against the pharmaceutical industry, saying such a rate could be as high as 200% for imports into the US.It came after Mr Trump announced the deadline for the US implementing tariffs on countries had been put back to August 1, giving the EU more time to hammer out an agreement with the United States.While Mr Trump signalled the tariff rate, he said any such levies would not come in for a period of time, up to a year and a half, to allow pharmaceutical companies time to relocate their plants to the US. Mr Trump said:
We’re going to give people about a year, a year and a half to come in, and after that, they’re going to be tariffed.
Responding to Mr Trump’s threats, the Taoiseach warned against the introduction of such high rates, saying it would damage companies, economies and possibly lead to medicine shortages."Tariffs at that scale would damage the companies, it would damage everybody. Never forget, US companies have become strong because of access to a lucrative EU market. They are leaders in the EU market and it's an important industry in Europe.Taoiseach Micheál Martin met Lithuanian president Gitanas Nausėda at Farmleigh House in Dublin on Thursday to discuss bilateral ties, EU and international issues including Ukraine, security, trade, and preparations for Ireland’s and Lithuania’s upcoming EU Council presidencies in 2026–2027. Picture: Leah Farrell/RollingNews "One has to be extremely careful of disrupting existing supply chains that could result in shortage of medicines but also could undermine the companies themselves."There has to be a realism in terms of the relocating. The [US] president has a legitimate objective in terms of wanting to relocate more manufacturing in America."However, Mr Martin said manufacturing based in the EU provides US companies access to the European and Asian markets.On the possibility of an EU-US trade deal, Mr Martin said it appeared to be a "framework agreement" rather than a full deal which would require additional line-by-line negotiations between the two sides.However, he said the wider EU seemed to agree that escalating the trade dispute would be "very damaging" to everyone.The Taoiseach was speaking as he met with the Lithuanian president, Gitanas Nauseda, during a visit to Dublin on Thursday.Mr Nauseda said it was “too early” to make conclusions on a deal, but he hoped a deal would be reached between the EU and US.“It’s very important to understand that a trade war, you cannot win it. I can tell you as a former economist it is impossible to win the trade war.“The main and most beneficial way to proceed is to find a compromise.”
