US administration’s ‘antipathy’ towards EU ‘misplaced’ – Irish premier

The US administration’s “antipathy” towards the EU is “misplaced”, the Irish premier has said.

Micheal Martin acknowledged there was undoubtedly “an issue” in respect of the administration’s negative opinion of the bloc.

Mr Martin made the comments as he urged the EU and US to find a “sensible landing zone” to resolve the dispute over tariffs.

If you take the European Union as a bloc, the trading relationship between it and the US is the biggest in the world. It has helped raise prosperity

Ireland falls under the sweeping 20% tariff imposed on most EU exports to the US which was announced by President Donald Trump on Wednesday and will come into effect in the coming days.

Mr Martin said that many of the big US pharma and technology companies have done well out of the European market, which he said has been forgotten by the US administration.

Speaking to reporters on Friday in Dublin, he said: “There is an issue there, without doubt. Within the US administration there is an antipathy that’s not disguised towards the European Union.

“Misplaced, in my view, because if you take the European Union as a bloc, the trading relationship between it and the US is the biggest in the world. It has helped raise prosperity.

“Many of the big US pharma and technology companies have done well out of the European market. I mean, that seems to be forgotten by the US administration, and has done very well.”

Mr Martin also said that Mr Trump’s criticism of an imbalance between the US and the EU only focused on the movement of goods and “ignored” the services industry.

“President Trump and the administration have very carefully just put services to one side,” he added.

“But services is the growth engine of modern economies, and the US enjoys a much, much better relationship on the services side with Europe, and indeed with Ireland, than it does on the goods side. But that gets ignored.”

Urging both the EU and US to resolve its dispute over tariffs, Mr Martin said it was important that the European bloc adopts a “strategic” approach to the issue of retaliatory tariffs on products imported from the US.

He said this was to avoid further tariff hikes by the US administration on certain sectors where Ireland has a strong presence in the US market, such as spirits.

“We’ve engaged in significant advocacy in respect of making sure that the response is strategic,” Mr Martin said outside Government Buildings in the Irish capital.

He said that Ireland and other EU countries do not want to invite “more damage”.

“But then the more broader picture, I mean, other countries have been hit very hard in terms of the automotive industry,” he added.

“Obviously the (European) Commission and the President of the Commission (Ursula von der Leyen) has a difficult task in balancing the competing interests and the priorities of different member states.

“But, more importantly, I think the European Union will be doing this, I surmise, on a phased basis. One, (will be) negotiation. The European Union didn’t want any tariffs.

“The European Union will engage with the United States administration to negotiate a sensible landing zone here and resolution of this, because currently this will do a lot of damage to the world economy, to the American economy, to tax on people, to tax on businesses, and overall, it will damage investment.”

He also highlighted the need to “re-pivot” Ireland’s economic strategy to put more focus on developing and supporting indigenous companies.

Mr Martin rejected the suggestion that Ireland has a “dependency” on tax take from US multinational companies operating Irish bases, but he acknowledged that the old world order based on a free trade model was changing and “protectionism is coming back”.

Meanwhile, Ireland’s Public Expenditure Minister Jack Chambers said “excessive” retaliatory measures to US tariffs are a concern.

He said that if the US is not willing to come to the negotiating table, that countermeasures will be brought in by the EU.

“We have reflected our own position in the context of countermeasures and Europe is engaging with all countries and building a collective response. I think the calm, measured strategic response from President Von Der Leyen is welcome,” Mr Chambers added.

“We want to move this to a space in negotiation.

“Excessive additional retaliatory measures that make this worse are a concern for Ireland.

“But we know if the US isn’t willing to come to the table and they aren’t willing to negotiate that some countermeasures are going to be required from the European Union.

“But we are reflecting our position as are many other countries.”