Tánaiste to meet pharma reps as Government prepares for potential trade war
The Tánaiste is to meet with representatives of the pharmaceutical industry as the Government works to buttress the economy in the face of a potential EU-US trade war.The online meeting comes amid an ongoing US investigation into the pharmaceutical sector. The Trump administration launched the Section 232 probe in April to determine which drug manufacturers are operating in countries that pose a national security threat to the US. In advance of the meeting, Simon Harris said: “The economic partnership between Ireland and the US, and the EU and the US in the pharmaceutical sector, is critically important. "Trade and investment in this sector is mutually beneficial. Section 232 investigations are focused on national security issues; the integrated supply chain in pharma products between the EU, including Ireland and the US, supports rather than threatens our collective transatlantic economic security."Mr Harris has engaged directly with US commerce secretary Howard Lutnick and US trade representative Jamieson Greer on the pharma issue to outline Ireland's position that the treatment of pharma should lie within negotiations with the EU.About 80% of what US pharma companies export back to the United States is not the finished product. In a letter to the Government’s trade forum, Mr Harris said the Government was “preparing for every scenario” which includes the introduction of EU countermeasures. The Tánaiste said there would be “significant economic disruption” if Mr Trump’s 30% tariffs were introduced, which would include job losses.Mr Harris' letter came as public expenditure minister Jack Chambers reiterated that there will be no cost of living package in this year's budget."We will not be doing one-off payments, or one-off cost of living payments in this year's Budget. We had a series of budgets in the last number of years, obviously through covid, through the inflationary period where we responded," he said.
