EU engaging ‘sensibly' with US administration following tariff threat
The European Union has been engaging 'sensibly' with the US administration over its threatened tariffs on all EU imports, Ireland's premier has said, as he welcomed a decision to pause the move until July.
Taoiseach Micheal Martin said he believes the US is anxious to reach a deal on trade with the EU, and that Donald Trump's administration has issues it wants resolved through the negotiations.
It comes as Mr Trump said he will pause his threatened 50% tariffs on the EU until July 9, following a 'very nice call' with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
In April, Mr Trump announced a 20% tariff on EU goods being sold into the US. He later reduced that to 10% until July 9 to allow for time for talks with Brussels on a potential agreement.
On Friday, Mr Trump claimed the talks were 'going nowhere' and said he was recommending that the 50% tariff rate comes into effect on June 1.
He rowed back on the decision on Monday, claiming that Ms Von der Leyen called him asking for extension to the date.
Mr Martin, who attended the Global Economic Summit in Killarney, Co Kerry, on Monday, welcomed the move.
'I do believe that the European Union has been engaging sensibly on this. I do believe the US side is anxious to get a deal on this that's sustainable too,' he said.
'They have issues, the US have issues that they want resolved through this negotiation.
'But all of the indications in terms of the interaction between Maros (Sefcovic) and his counterparts is that they wanted a deal here.
'Europe has responded, so far, in a fairly modest and sensible way.
'We need to stay focused on those sectors that Ireland is doing well in, and I've been in fairly regular contact now over the last four months with leaders in the pharmaceutical industry, medtech and the technology industry.
'I spoke to a lot of CEOs, getting their perspective on what's happening in the US, and also their own sense of how it affects their companies and their facilities.
'Suffice to say that I think everybody so far appreciates the European Union's approach in terms of not overreacting to various announcements and to various decisions, but rather to focus on a negotiating resolution to this.
'I welcome the conversation that President Trump has had with President Von der Leyen, and that we're back to the original timetable of July for what Europe and the US to negotiate a deal.
'But tariffs are not good for our economy. They're not good for the world economy. They're not good for consumers.
'It's absolutely important that we can get a realistic and reasonable deal between Europe and the United States to help consumers, to help citizens across the world.'
Mr Martin said there is a lot of 'wait and see' among businesses and investors, saying that many are uncertain about the future.
He said that uncertainty changes the public's spending behaviour, which has an impact on the domestic economy.
In a statement, Tanaiste Simon Harris said: 'I want to welcome confirmation from President Trump that the threatened higher tariffs are paused until July 9.
'This follows contact between President Von der Leyen and the US President who spoke yesterday, as well as the discussions on Friday between Commissioner Sefcovic and his US counterparts.
'These contacts at the highest political level present the opportunity for negotiations to move forward. This is our priority. We want to see meaningful and substantive talks.
'The EU-US economic relationship is an engine of growth for the entire world.
'There is no doubt that the circumstances are challenging at present but I am confident that we can find a way forward.
'Ireland will continue to contribute actively and positively to these efforts. I remain in close and ongoing contact with Commissioner Sefcovic and with our EU partners and, of course, we will continue our outreach to the US.
'We have much work to do and no time to waste to find a deal that that is good for both economies and protects jobs and investment.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Western Telegraph
24 minutes ago
- Western Telegraph
Russian drones and missiles target Ukrainian city of Kharkiv
The Russian barrage – the latest in near daily widescale attacks by Moscow – included deadly aerial glide bombs that have become part of fierce Russian attacks in the three-year war. Kharkiv's mayor Ihor Terekhov said the attack also damaged 18 blocks of flats and 13 private homes. Citing preliminary data, he said Russia used 48 Shahed drones, two missiles and four aerial glide bombs in the attack. A woman reacts as she looks at the aftermath of a drone and missile attack on a building in Kharkiv (AP Photo/Andrii Marienko) The intensity of the Russian attacks on Ukraine over the past weeks has further dampened hopes that the warring sides could reach a peace deal soon – especially after Kyiv recently embarrassed the Kremlin with a surprising drone attack on military airfields deep inside Russia. The attack also came after US President Donald Trump said his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, told him Moscow would respond to Ukraine's attack on Sunday on Russian military airfields. It was also hours after Mr Trump said it might be better to let Ukraine and Russia 'fight for a while' before pulling them apart and pursuing peace. Mr Trump's comments were a remarkable detour from his often-stated appeals to stop the war and signalled he may be giving up on recent peace efforts.
Daily Mail
an hour ago
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE Donald Trump receives support from huge sporting ally over blistering Elon Musk feud
Donald Trump has received a welcome message of support from one his longstanding friends in the world of sport after his friendship with Elon Musk spectacularly exploded this week. Musk torched his relationship with the president in full view of the world on Thursday afternoon, claiming on X that Trump is named 'in the Epstein files' before saying he should be impeached and that his tariff policy will send the United States into recession.
Telegraph
an hour ago
- Telegraph
Bulgaria could break the euro. The EU would only have itself to blame
Its inflation was in double digits only a couple of years ago. It has had seven elections over the last two years. Corruption is endemic and it has few major industries. Bulgaria is hardly anyone's idea of a stable economy. But, hey, never mind any of that. The European Central Bank (ECB) has had a great idea. Let's merge its currency with that of Germany, Belgium and France. What could possibly go wrong? Well, quite a lot, as it happens. As Greece showed 15 years ago, hustling a country into the eurozone before it is ready can bring the entire currency crashing down. The euro survived the Greek crisis, just about – but that doesn't mean it will necessarily survive Bulgaria. It certainly marks another major step forward for the euro. On Wednesday, both Brussels and the ECB confirmed that Bulgaria had finally met all the criteria for joining the euro. The formal decision is expected in July and the replacement of the lev will take place on Jan 1 next year. We can expect a ponderous speech from Ursula von der Leyen, the European Commission president, about how the European family is expanding. There'll be some grand claims from Christine Lagarde,the ECB president (assuming she hasn't quit to run Davos instead by then) about how the euro is finally taking its place on the world stage. And there'll be some fireworks as well, as the old currency is quietly buried and the new notes and coins are introduced. Of course, on one level that will be a victory for the single currency. Bulgaria will be the 21st nation to adopt the euro, and the fact that new countries keep joining is certainly a sign of its strength, even if the really successful economies in central Europe, such as the rapidly growing Poland, show absolutely no interest in having anything to do with it. And initially it won't actually make a huge difference to the economy. The lev is already tied to the euro by a currency board, meaning it can neither appreciate or devalue. The trouble is, it is very hard to see how Bulgaria can be seen as part of a natural currency zone with Germany and France. One problem is that many of the electorate don't seem to want the euro very much. There was a rally in Sofia last weekend protesting against the decision, and the country's independent president Rumen Radev has already proposed a referendum on the issue, a demand criticised by the government as 'sabotage'. You might hope for a bit more of a settled consensus on an issue as important as adopting a new currency. Still, leaving aside that point, it is the fundamental economics that are more worrying. To start with, Bulgaria is one of the poorest countries in the EU, with a GDP per capita of $15,800 (£11,700) according to World Bank data, compared with $54,000 in Germany and $44,000 in France. It is not exactly a minor gap to put it mildly. It has continually missed its inflation targets, with the rate hitting 16pc as recently as 2022. And it has bitterly divided politics, with a bewildering succession of elections, having had eight prime ministers since 2020, if we include caretaker administrations. Even worse, it is not as if Bulgaria even has a great record of paying back its creditors. For much of the post-war period it was of course part of the Soviet bloc, but before that, it defaulted on its debts in 1915 and 1932. Admittedly, that is a better record than Greece, which has defaulted on its debts six times over the last couple of hundred years, but for much of the 19th century Bulgaria was part of the Ottoman Empire which was hardly known for its financial stability either. Over any reasonable time frame, it does not look like a very good bet for bond investors. Likewise, the lev has been through four incarnations since Bulgaria became an independent country, with the latest re-denomination in 1999, when one new lev replaced 1,000 of the old ones. Again, it is not a currency that has been a great place to store your life savings. Fifteen years have now passed since the Greek financial crisis erupted, rocking the eurozone, which is probably long enough for most of its main lessons to have been forgotten. It had multiple causes, but the nub of it was this. Greece was hustled into the zone before it was ready and before its economy had merged with its more developed neighbours, encouraging its politicians to borrow recklessly in a currency that was as good as Germany's and running up debts that turned out not to be sustainable. Eventually, the whole house of cards came crashing down, threatening the stability of the banking system right across the continent. It triggered a cascading series of crises that caught up Italy, Spain, Portugal and Ireland from which it took years to recover and forced the ECB to launch a bailout that everyone had assumed was ruled out by the treaties. In reality, Bulgaria is Greece on roller skates. Sure, the zone managed to recover from the Greek crisis, and has put itself back on a firmer financial footing. But it was a long hard slog, a decade was lost, and Greece suffered the worst collapse in output of any developed nation since the Great Depression of the 1930s. The zone may get lucky and Bulgaria may integrate seamlessly into the wider European financial system. And yet the blunt truth is this. Admitting Bulgaria into the zone is a very big risk, and a decision that has been made on purely political grounds. It may well end up crashing the system all over again – and the leaders of the zone will only have themselves to blame.
