Naoise Ó Muirí (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

It is incredible that no one in the entire US Washington Administration is challenging these tariffs. It is incredible that the Republican Party, the party which produced Ronald Regan who, for all his faults, understood the benefits and value of free trade, is moving away from this and clearly wrapping itself in the cloak of protectionism.

It is incredible that has happened. It is frankly incredible that the US Administration thinks it can rebuild its industrial base purely based on protectionism. I do not know what planet it is living on. It is incredible the US Administration has put out the falsehood that there are tariffs of 39% between the European Union and the USA, meaning the EU imposes average tariffs of 39% on US goods and services. That is patently not the case. Even a little research shows that the figure is between 3% and 5%. Cliff Taylor had a good piece on this issue in The Irish Times. However, that falsehood is out there now. It all seems to be about negotiation. This is a time of huge challenges for the EU 27. We have a serious security challenge to the east with Russia, and then a very aggressive trade war originating and breaking out on the western side of Europe. Is am cinniúnach é don Eoraip, but I still think the time of challenge for Europe is now and our best way to resolve this is clearly in negotiation and in partnership with the EU 27 bloc, to work as one and hopefully negotiate a way through this over the next while.

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