US president Donald Trump has announced sweeping tariffs of 20 per cent on EU goods – saying that the United States was reciprocating for levies charged by other countries on US goods.
The long-anticipated announcement come amidst fears that the “discounted reciprocal tariffs” will spark a trade war with the European Union that could significantly impact the Irish economy. Trump said the tariffs would take effect from midnight.
“The European Union, they rip us off, it’s so sad to see, it’s so pathetic – we’re going to charge them 20 per cent,” he said. Tariffs of 10 per cent will be charged on the UK, while Canada and Mexico are not subject to the reciprocal tariffs.
Much higher tariffs were announced on China (34 per cent )and 46 per cent on Vietnam, while Taiwan will be charged 32 per cent, Japan 24 per cent, India 26 per cent and South Korea 25 per cent.
Trump said that the US will also impose 25 per cent tariffs on “all foreign made automobiles”.
The US president said his announcement would be remembered as the day “American industry was reborn” and that the plan was to “make America wealthy again”.
He claimed that the US had been “looted, pillaged and plundered” by countries across the world, but that jobs and factories would “come roaring back into our country”.
”For decades the United States slashed our trade barriers on other other countries, while those nations placed massive barriers to decimate our industries. And in many cases, the non monetary barriers were worse than the monetary ones,” he said.
“They manipulated their currency, subsidised their exports, stole out intellectual property, imposed exorbitant taxes to disadvantage our products, adopted unfair rules and technical standards and created filthy pollution… but those days are over,” he added.
In a statement, Taoiseach Micheál Martin said that tariffs are “bad for the world economy” and that “EU unity is crucial”.
“More than €4.2 billion worth of goods and services are traded between the EU and the US daily. Disrupting this deeply integrated relationship benefits no one,” he said.
“Tariffs drive inflation, hurt people on both sides of the Atlantic, and put jobs at risk. We will now reflect with our EU partners on how best to proceed.
“As I agreed with President [Ursula] von der Leyen in our recent phone call, EU unity is crucial, and our response should be considered and measured.”