'A challenging time': Minister Peter Burke explains what tariffs mean to Ireland

The US tariffs have brought plenty of difficulty for businesses, which Minister Peter Burke has made previous comment on. His belief that pharmaceuticals should have a single 15% tariff has been discussed, but he has mentioned the large scale effects that are costly to any businessperson. 

“They affect all products and goods that are exported because they are an additional cost on top of the price. In the US, that means essentially that it can’t retain market share on a product so this presents an additional challenge. So, not just pharmaceuticals," he explained when asked about what industries are affected in Ireland. 

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Minister Burke further explained Section 232, which is an investigation that is looking at pharmaceuticals and semi-conductors in isolation. 

“We’re waiting for the outcome,” he added. “Anything from the investigation is hopefully not in excess of 15%.”

When asked about whether he has been communicating with concerned businesspeople who have been affected by the tariffs, Minister Burke continued:

“I have been working with business owners for the last months. We set up a new enterprise committee. We have a tariff response unit working with 950 companies who export to the U.S. 68,000 jobs are reliant on those companies. There are many supports through innovation grants, market diversification as well. We’re looking at other methods as well with Enterprise Ireland.” 

In terms of the current state for Ireland, Minister Burke made it clear how challenging tariffs are. 

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“It’s a very challenging time for Ireland in retaining market share with those talents. If 15% aren’t added to tariffs in those sectors, like agriculture, it may not be affected so that is important.”