Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Since the discussion at the Foreign Affairs Council, President Trump has announced his decision to implement tariffs at 25% on steel and aluminium imports to the United States, commencing in March. Tomorrow, I will attend a virtual meeting of EU trade ministers, where ministers from all 27 member states, along with the European Commission, will discuss this development and consider appropriate responses. Ireland's and the EU's view is clear, however: tariffs hurt businesses and consumers. They are not in the interests of the EU or Ireland and we do not believe they are in the interests of the United States either.

I agree with Deputy Ó Laoghaire that we need to be prepared and not to be alarmist or fatalistic. We have to work our way through this. Donald Trump is the democratically elected President of the United States of America and will be for four years. We have to look at how we can respond, deal with the challenges and seek opportunities where we can. I take the point on having to be prepared to support businesses, especially small and medium businesses, in any turbulence that may arise. That is one of the reasons we have established the consultative trade forum, which I will chair, to be able to bring that into the room and be able to engage on these matters.

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