Irish exports to the US down almost 25% as tariff pressures stifle trade
New figures released by the Central Statistics Office (CSO) on Friday show exports to the US fell by almost a quarter compared to June 2024, dropping by €1.3bn to a total of €4.4bn.
Despite the notable decline, the US remained Ireland's largest trading partner, with exports to the US accounting for just under 25% of total exports in June.
The products which accounted for the largest share of US exports were chemicals and related products at €3.2bn, miscellaneous manufactured articles at €622m and machinery and transport equipment at €412m. These products represented 72.3%, 14.3% and 9.5% of total exports to the US in June.
On a monthly basis, exports of goods to the US fell by almost 60%, reflecting the fallout from tariffs as well as stockpiling efforts by companies seeking to get ahead of punitive levies.
Overall, the value of goods exports increased by 4.8% to €17.5bn in June 2025 compared to the same month last year, the CSO said.
For the three months between April and June, exports were valued at €63.1bn, reflecting a rise of 16.5% compared with the same quarter last year.
Stockpiling
However, it also reflected an almost 30% fall compared to the previous quarter, which was especially high due to stockpiling efforts ahead of President Trump's 'Liberation Day' tariff announcement in April.
Similarly, goods exports declined by more than 26% to €17.2bn in June compared to the previous month, leading to a decrease of 56% in Ireland's seasonally adjusted trade surplus.
Exports of medical and pharmaceutical products increased by 9% to €7.3bn in June compared with the same month last year, representing over 41% of total exports. Meanwhile, exports of organic chemicals decreased by almost 30% to €1.8bn compared to June 2024.
The EU has not said when a joint statement on tariffs with the US would be ready, nor when the White House would issue an executive order on European car import duties. The EU and US reached a framework trade agreement at the end of July but only the 15% baseline tariff on European exports had so far come into effect, as of last week.
EU officials previously said a joint statement would follow the deal "very soon" along with executive orders from US president Donald Trump on key carve-outs.
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RTÉ News
6 minutes ago
- RTÉ News
Europeans to back Zelensky in Washington as Trump presses Ukraine deal
European leaders will join the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to meet Donald Trump in Washington later today, they said, seeking to shore up Mr Zelensky's position as the US president presses Ukraine to accept a quick peace deal to end Europe's deadliest war in 80 years. Mr Trump is leaning on Mr Zelensky to strike an agreement after he met Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin in Alaska and emerged more aligned with Russia on seeking a peace deal instead of a ceasefire first. "If peace is not going to be possible here and this is just going to continue on as a war, people will continue to die by the thousands ... we may unfortunately wind up there, but we don't want to wind up there," Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in an interview with CBS' "Face the Nation." Mr Trump promised "BIG PROGRESS ON RUSSIA" in a social media post without specifying what this might be. Mikhail Ulyanov, Russia's envoy to international organisations in Vienna, said Russia agreed that any peace agreement on Ukraine must provide security guarantees to Kyiv. "Many leaders of #EU states emphasise that a future peace agreement should provide reliable security assurances or guarantees for Ukraine," Mr Ulyanov said on social media platform X. "Russia agrees with that. But it has equal right to expect that Moscow will also get efficient security guarantees." Top Trump officials hinted that the fate of Ukraine's eastern Donbas region - which is already mostly under Russian control - was on the line, while some sort of defensive pact was also on the table. "We were able to win the following concession, that the United States could offer Article 5-like protection," Mr Trump envoy Steve Witkoff told CNN's "State of the Union", suggesting this would be in lieu of Ukraine seeking NATO membership. Mr Witkoff said it was "the first time we had ever heard the Russians agree to that." Article 5 of NATO's founding treaty enshrines the principle of collective defence, in which an attack on any member is considered an attack on all. That pledge may not be enough to sway Ukraine to sign over Donbas. Ukraine's borders were already meant to be guaranteed when Ukraine surrendered a nuclear arsenal in 1994, which proved to be little deterrent when Russia absorbed Crimea in 2014 and launched its full-scale invasion in 2022. The war has killed or wounded more than one million people. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, French President Emmanuel Macron, and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer hosted a meeting of allies yesterday to bolster Mr Zelensky's hand, hoping in particular to lock down robust security guarantees for Ukraine that would include a US role. The Europeans are eager to help Mr Zelensky avoid a repeat of his last Oval Office meeting in February when Mr Trump and Vice President JD Vance gave the Ukrainian leader a public dressing-down, accusing him of being ungrateful and disrespectful. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen will also travel to Washington, as will Finnish President Alexander Stubb, who has played rounds of golf with Mr Trump this year, and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, an admirer of many of Mr Trump policies. European show of solidarity European leaders at the meeting projected unity, welcoming US talk of a security guarantee but stressing no discussions over territory could take place without Ukrainian involvement and clear arrangements to safeguard the rest of Ukraine's land. Some called for an immediate ceasefire, which Mr Trump originally said he was trying to secure during his summit with Mr Putin. Mr Trump later changed course and agreed with the Russians that peace negotiations could come without a ceasefire, an idea dismissed by some of Ukraine's European allies. "You cannot negotiate peace under falling bombs," Poland's foreign ministry said in a statement. A joint communique released by Britain, France and Germany after the meeting said their leaders were ready "to deploy a reassurance force once hostilities have ceased, and to help secure Ukraine's skies and seas and regenerate Ukraine's armed forces." Some European countries, led by Britain and France, have been working since last year on such a plan, but others in the region remain reluctant to become involved militarily. Mr Zelensky said on X there had been "clear support for Ukraine's independence and sovereignty" at the meeting."Everyone agrees that borders must not be changed by force." He said any prospective security guarantees "must really be very practical, delivering protection on land, in the air, and at sea, and must be developed with Europe's participation." Mr Rubio said both Russia and Ukraine would need to make concessions to reach a peace deal and security guarantees for Ukraine would be discussed. He also said there must be additional consequences for Russia if no deal was reached. "I'm not saying we're on the verge of a peace deal, but I am saying that we saw enough movement to justify a follow-up meeting with Mr Zelensky and the Europeans, enough movement for us to dedicate even more time to this," Mr Rubio told broadcaster CBS. Mr Putin briefed his close ally, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, about the Alaska talks, and also spoke with Kazakhstan's president, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev. Mr Trump said Ukraine should make a deal to end the war because "Russia is a very big power, and they're not." After the Alaska summit, Mr Trump phoned the Ukrainian leader and told him the Kremlin chief had offered to freeze most front lines if Ukraine ceded all of Donetsk, a source familiar with the matter said. Mr Zelensky rejected the demand.
Irish Times
32 minutes ago
- Irish Times
Letters to the Editor, August 18th: On the presidency, Trump and Putin in Alaska, and being caught short at The Weir
Sir, – It had been coming on for a while but it came to a head last week. It happened in my beloved local – Smyths of Haddington Road – when one of my friends, a solemn and serious man, suggested I might make a decent president. The others, not a reverential group, quickly agreed though I suspect the prospect of pints in the Park might have been a factor in their enthusiasm. All went well until the question of background checks, family skeletons in cupboards or in my own past came up. READ MORE That cooled things down. I wondered if the story of my disreputable rogue of a cousin would surface. He had disgraced himself by his blackguarding of Parnell in that great man's last byelection, the Carlow byelction of 1891 and later received six months hard labour for a crime taken more seriously now than then. Or would they drag up great-uncle TJ who got and then lost the Irish Party nomination for the East Galway byelection in the 1890s? Why he was deselected is still a murky matter. It might not bear too much researching. And a few more cousinly names came floating back and all this before I even began to think what skeletons, mistakes, bad behaviour might be swimming around in my own past. I thanked my friends. The quiet life has much to be said for it. – Yours, etc, MAURICE MANNING, Haddington Road, Dublin 4. Trump and Putin Alaska meeting Sir, – I never thought I would say this, but I actually felt sorry for US president Donald Trump as I watched the reports of the Trump-Putin Summit, or perhaps it would be more accurate to say, I felt embarrassed for him. Russian president Vladimir Putin took full advantage of the red carpet welcome given to him by Trump, while at the same time conceding absolutely nothing. At the press conference, Putin used the opportunity to give a history lesson to justify his invasion of Ukraine, while, for once, Trump seemed lost for words. My hope is that this experience has alerted Trump to the reality that he cannot trust Putin. However, Trump appears to be a slow learner so I will not hold my breath. – Yours, etc, PAULA MOLLOY, Baldoyle, Dublin 13. Sir, – Commiserations, on this occasion, to US president Donald Trump on his valiant but failed attempt to secure a ceasefire in Ukraine, during his talks with Russian president Vladimir Putin. Perhaps, to use his own idiom, he just didn't have the cards. – Yours, etc, NUALA DELANEY, Killiney. Co Dublin. Sir, – It's apparent that there is no love lost between the US president and large sections of the media. Considering the way that many news outlets displayed a blatant bias in last year's election, Mr Trump's displeasure is understandable. However, the mutual dislike is beginning to get silly and childish. For example, at the funeral of the late Pope Francis, many commentators were more obsessed with Mr Trump's choice of suit than concentrating on the solemnity of the occasion. Now at the recent Trump-Putin summit in Alaska they have latched on to the fact that a red carpet was laid out at the foot of the aircraft. The latter is standard procedure for all visiting heads of state, regardless of their reputation. For example, in the UK and Ireland the red carpet has been rolled out for all sorts of questionable heads of state. A few years ago, the Chinese premier Li Qiang made an overnight stop in Ireland and almost ¤3,000 was splashed out on, you've guessed it, a red carpet. To put it mildly, China has a questionable human rights record. From blue suit-gate, to red carpet-gate. Can we please have more substantive reporting than this childish trivia? – Yours, etc, ERIC CONWAY, Navan, Co Meath. Sir, – While Putin said he sincerely wants to end the war, what he forgot to add was 'but on my terms'. – Yours, etc, PAUL KEENAN, Killiney, Co Dublin. Angelus strikes a wrong note Sir, – I can only answer 'yes' to William Burke's question 'Isn't it time to remove the Angelus from RTÉ's airwaves (Letters, August 14th). Having written to The Irish Times and RTÉ on the subject (and having been castigated by several follow-up letters) I think it is time to review this issue again. It is not the role of the national broadcaster to deliver 'a spiritual moment' to the masses, and it is not indeed a spiritual moment directed to the masses, it is directed to Catholics. If I want a spiritual moment I am quite happy to listen to bird song or waves on a beach. The Angelus is the anthem of an organisation which still discriminates against half the population, campaigns against contraception and abortion in all cases, refuses their sacraments to same sex couples and further discriminates against citizens of this country who belong to the LGBTQ+ community. On more than one occasion in the recent past a news report on clerical sex abuse being delivered on RTÉ's excellent Drivetime programme has been interrupted with 'a pause for the Angelus' and it is time we all saw the irony and contradiction in this. Ireland is now a country with a diverse population in terms of gender, colour, nationality, religious belief (or absence of same) and sexual orientation, and our national broadcaster needs to reflect this. Let those who wish to listen to the Angelus make their own recordings which they can play at midday and 6pm, but please allow those of us who do not subscribe to Catholicism to enjoy RTÉ's television and radio programmes without any historical and outdated religious trappings. – Yours, etc, GARY DOYLE, Straffan, Co Kildare. A warning on The Weir Sir, – Your review of The Weir omits what should be the standard warning that accompanies any references to performances of that play: do not drink alcohol immediately before watching a performance because it does not have an interval ('The Weir review: Brendan Gleeson and Tom Vaughan-Lawlor bring timeless play to Dublin,' August 14th). As it happens I attended the original production of The Weir in St Martin's Lane, London in the late 1990s. I was with my cousin and we both, as usual, had several pints of beer beforehand. Despite our best efforts at 'containment', we both separately had to leave our seats to go to the toilet right in the middle of a scene in the play. My cousin was so affected that he never again drank alcohol – before watching any play. – Yours, etc, FRANK DESMOND, Cork. The feasibility of MetroLink Sir, – In recent weeks, Dermot Desmond and Michael O'Leary have expressed views that the MetroLink project idea should be scrapped. Common sense should prevail and it should be scrapped. The metro project has been discussed for over 20 years. About €500 million has been spent to date and not one metre of track has yet been installed. In December 2023, then minister for transport Eamon Ryan stated that he believed the long-promised metro would begin operating in the early 2030s. He also expressed confidence that the line would be built at an estimated cost of €9.5 billion. In March 2025, an estimated figure of €23 billion was suggested. Estimated. The truth is, no one knows how much it will cost. As we have seen with the children's hospital project, it has grown enormous fiscal legs, as it was never correctly costed from the very onset of the project. Even now, no one knows the final price for the completed hospital. Historically, large capital projects in Ireland typically come in well over budget, with gigantic, uncontrolled costs being the norm. Dublin Port Tunnel and the first Red and Green Luas lines spring to mind as State projects where high cost overruns doubled the cost at completion time. Potentially, MetroLink could come in at ¤40 billion if the trend is followed. It won't even be a proper metro. Just one underground line from the airport to St Stephen's Green is hardly a metro system. Given our current housing crisis, the metro project would also remove valuable construction manpower from house building, which is already experiencing labour scarcity. With chronic traffic issues in Dublin, it would be wiser to invest the vast sums of money in a full Luas for Dublin. With a Luas line running from Broombridge Luas depot up through Tolka valley and via Finglas on an elevated track line along the N3 on to Ballymun and turning towards the airport from Ballymun. In tandem, a Dart line from the airport down to the Dart at Clongriffin or Portmarnock stations could easily be built. Much of the ground between the airport and either of these two stations is open, undeveloped, including Belcamp, down to the Malahide Road. Scheduling the Darts from Clongriffin or Portmarnock could allow for a slow and fast link to Connolly Station, linking out to the south side of Dublin to Bray and into Co Wicklow or running north towards Drogheda. This would give a larger catchment area of airport passengers. Such links would reduce car use to the airport. As a qualified mining engineer with experience in tunnelling works early on in my career, I know that tunnelling projects typically run vastly over initial cost estimates. Delays associated with unforeseen hostile ground conditions, mechanical breakdowns and other problems all add to cost overruns and claims from contractors. A prime and relevant Irish tunnelling project is the Dublin Port tunnel, which came in at ¤2 billion, double the estimated cost 22 years ago. So, can someone in Government just decide to stop this nonsense and ask Transport Infrastructure Ireland for a swift feasibility study on a combined Luas and Dart link from the airport? It will save the State and the taxpayers from another multibillion-euro white elephant. – Yours, etc, RORY O CONNOR, Chartered Engineer, Lucan, Co Dublin. Sir, – David Clarke (Letters, August 14th) expresses doubts as to whether Michael O'Leary is 'speaking from personal experience about public transport' in relation to arguments he raises concerning access to Dublin Airport. Is this not a slightly churlish comment regarding a man who once demonstrated his commitment and support for the concept of public transport by purchasing a private taxi licence plate so that he could share the semi-exclusive bus-lane corridor provided for them? – Yours, etc, JAKE WALSH, Clogherhead, Co Louth. Sir, – I agree Dublin needs a rail link to the airport, but MetroLink should not be seen as the only, or best, solution. An overground line could be built far more quickly and at a fraction of the cost. Living beside the Dart, I see the benefits such a service brings to local communities, and a similar link to the airport could serve passengers and residents without the huge tunnelling expense. If MetroLink is about connecting suburbs, should we not also be planning similar links for Lucan, Rathfarnham and other areas? For the relatively low population density of Dublin's suburbs, underground tunnels are financially and environmentally prohibitive. Peer-reviewed studies show tunnel construction emits, on average, 27 times more CO2 per kilometre than surface rail. An overground route could be delivered in under five years for about ¤1 billion. The billions saved could fund sustainability projects that cut emissions and help Ireland avoid up to ¤28 billion in EU penalties. Otherwise, we risk pouring all our resources into one line while leaving much of Dublin behind. – Yours, etc, MICHAEL O'HARA, Co-founder, Techies Go Green, Guinness Enterprise Centre, Dublin 8. Press freedom and Palestine Sir, – Killian Foley-Walsh may have been quite chuffed when he spotted that Palestine is ranked even lower than Israel on the current World Press Freedom Index (Letters, August 15th), but this fact does not lend his argument as much force as he thinks. Apparently, he sees this as evidence that statistics coming from Palestinian sources should be treated with at least as much caution as those coming out of Israel. Perhaps he is right: peer-reviewed studies (in publications such as The Lancet) have shown that the death toll in Gaza is, if anything, substantially higher than the figures released by the health ministry. Has the letter writer also considered that the low ranking of Palestine in the Press Freedom Index might have anything to do with the fact that Gaza is currently one of the most dangerous places in the world for journalists? Elsewhere on your Letters page, David Woods wants us to take seriously the parallel he suggests between Israel's violation of international law and the actions of protesters carrying placards in support of an organisation (Palestine Action), whose proscription by the UK government is the subject of ongoing legal challenge, and has been widely condemned by human rights groups for its impact on people's right to peaceful protest and freedom of expression. What is happening in Gaza is one of the most appalling atrocities we have witnessed in modern history, and it is hard to understand why some people seem so determined to distract us from it with such equivalences and semantic games. – Yours, etc, BRENDAN O'CONNELL, Crumlin, Dublin 12. Sir, – Dr David Woods states that Londoners taking part in a proscribed demonstration 'are doing the same thing' as Israel is, by its creeping annexation of the West Bank. The mind boggles at the thought that anyone, let alone a university lecturer, could see any equivalence between these respective actions. – Yours, etc, MICHAEL O'DWYER, Clogheen, Cork. Not a record Sir, – The writer, whose name eludes Michael Keegan (Letters, August 14th), could not have heard John McCormack singing On Hearing the First Cuckoo of Spring, even on a record. This is a beautiful piece for orchestra by Frederick Delius, which doesn't call for any contribution from a singer! – Yours, etc, GILLIAN SMITH, Dublin 6.
Irish Examiner
an hour ago
- Irish Examiner
Irish Examiner view: Gavin Newsom seems to be the right man at the right time
At a time when Donald Trump's Maga movement is seemingly steamrolling its way through America, California governor Gavin Newsom is galvanising a sense of open resistance. With Texas attempting to redraw its constituencies to deliver five more Republican seats in Congress, at Trump's behest, Newsom has vowed to do the same in his state, to reduce Republican representation in California at a similar or greater level. And it's not just the resolute action, while many Democrat politicians instead opt for wagging fingers, Newsom and his team are satirically skewering Trump's approach to social media, down to all-caps bulletins that could be lifted right from Trump's Truth Social. Newsom, not uniquely among Democrats but certainly most emphatically, argues that he and his party need to fight fire with fire, and that the future of democracy in the US is on the line. He is not currently pitching himself as a 2028 presidential candidate — in fact he has been sounding warnings that there may not be an election if Republican changes go ahead — but he represents a wing of the Democrat Party, alongside JP Pritzker in Illinois and Jasmine Crockett in Texas, that has decided it will not be subdued quietly. The contrast between the passionate, articulate Newsom and the increasingly incoherent ramblings of Trump could not be starker. California's changes would only come into effect if another Republican-controlled state changes its districts, and he has said they will be subject to the results of the 2030 census anyway, meaning that, unlike Texas Republicans, he has signalled a willingness to change once (or if) the fight is won. Even though some of Newsom's policies toward the homeless and LGBT+ community are not as progressive as one might imagine from a California Democrat, he nonetheless seems to be the right man at the right time. Armed border patrol agents converged on one of Newsom's events last week, though he has refused to be intimidated. Sending armed, masked agents to a political rally is not a sign of a functioning democracy. Newsom will be hoping that, one way or the other, his efforts will go toward restoring one. Festivals bring us together Who doesn't love a festival? Judging by how well the country's events — music, food, cultural, even matchmaking — have done these past few months, we seem to be a nation of festival lovers and, perhaps more importantly, festival goers. The figures have consistently shown that festival attendances across the country are at or around pre-pandemic levels, and it's fair to say that almost every niche is covered — from comic-cons to folk music. We may not be at Coachella levels — where attendees regularly go into debt to get tickets and accommodation — but we're probably better off for it. It requires no great sage to see their importance from an economic standpoint, with established offerings such as the West Cork Literary Festival, Fastnet Film Festival, and Puck Fair pulling in the punters and generating sizeable amounts for their regions. You can scale it up as much as you like — Electric Picnic on August 29 will bring in serious revenue for Co Laois, for example — but the dividends go beyond euro and cent. In an unsettled and fractious world, they are more important than ever at bringing people together and reminding them of the simple joy of experiencing music, drama, or food among the infectious joy of being around people of shared interests. Even when not interacting directly, there is still something immense and intangible about knowing one is not ploughing a furrow alone in the wilderness. Brendan Gleeson recently made the case for a regular arts segment on RTÉ news broadcasts, 'the same way as there is for sport'. The arts 'make people feel less alone', he said. And at a time when so many of us seem at odds with one another, isn't a fine thing to know you're not alone? What's your view on this issue? You can tell us here Lives lost to drowning More than 50 people have drowned so far this year. That's more than 50 families mourning losses that they may never recover from, and more than 50 local communities missing one of their own. Irish Water Safety noted last week that in an eight-week spell from May to June, seven children drowned, the majority of them teenagers. Days earlier, a child had to be rescued after the inflatable they were using floated out to sea, while a man in his 60s died a few days later after getting into difficulty swimming off the coast of Waterford. The water cares not for age or social standing, and when troubles arise, there can be limited options. The same applies to our myriad inland waterways. In Cork City, some 200 lifebuoys are placed along the River Lee, with an average of one a week used to save a life, and yet a perennial problem is losing them not to the water, but petty theft and vandalism. Two weeks ago, our Sarah Horgan profiled council worker Colin Russell, whose job it is to maintain the buoys. He said some 25 a month are simply dumped in the water, and it costs the council €20,000 a year just to replace them. 'I've often been in the Lee Fields where the small ones in the yellow boxes were set alight by people who were there fishing,' he said. 'Other times they just burnt them while drinking, maybe to keep warm. 'Some people take them as souvenirs to hang up on the walls of their houses and bedrooms.' Lifebuoys stands are sometimes emblazoned with the motto 'a stolen buoy, a stolen life', and it would do us good to remember this. Given that CCTV has been used to track down people interfering with lifebuoys, why shouldn't the penalties be increased, even drastically so? In any other area or sector putting lives at risk would be punished severely. Why not here?
