Countries around the world have begun to impose retaliatory tariffs on the US as Donald Trump doubled down on his trade war.
It comes as Tánaiste Simon Harris last night confirmed he is to travel to Washington on Wednesday to meet with US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick in the wake of the 20% tariff imposed on European goods.
China announced additional tariffs of 34% on US goods yesterday but Mr Trump vowed not to change course.
He insisted his policies will “never change”, adding: “This is a great time to get rich.”
Irish firms supplying into the US are scrambling to reinforce their operations to mitigate against the impact the tariffs will have on their products.
Irish speciality food and alcohol producers are two sectors which are significantly exposed.
Cashel Blue plans to weather the storm
Tipperary-based cheese producer Cashel Blue has worked in the US speciality cheese sector for 30 years.
Its joint owner and general manager, Sarah Furno, said while there will be less of its cheese sold in the US over the coming years, “we also want to manage our reputation in the US, which is very good, so that when times are better we can come back in”.
Ibec warning about job losses
According to Ibec chief executive Danny McCoy, companies across the economy are this weekend planning to place their workers on short-time working as US tariffs threaten demand for their products.
“There is immediacy for some firms this weekend, who know that their demand is likely to drop quite substantially and their workers will need to go on short-time working,” he said. “If demand is likely to dry up, then you have an excess supply of both product and workers.”
He said this is likely to particularly impact sectors with “fast-moving consumer goods”, including Ireland’s drinks sector.
Sources in the drinks industry said the US tariffs are likely to be particularly damaging to smaller distilleries which export their products to the US.
Last night, the EU’s trade commissioner Maroš Šefčovič said he had a “frank exchange” with the US commerce secretary Howard Lutnick and US trade representative Jamieson Greer, tweeting afterwards: “I was clear: US tariffs are damaging, unjustified. The EU-US trade relationship needs a fresh approach. The EU’s committed to meaningful negotiations but also prepared to defend our interests. We stay in touch.”
JP Morgan: 60% chance of global recession
The damage Mr Trump’s tariffs, and the retaliation they inspire, have led banking giant JP Morgan to say that it now sees a 60% chance of the global economy entering recession by year end, up from 40% previously.
In the US, the chairman of the Federal Reserve, Jerome Powell, warned that high inflation and slower growth could persist for some time on the back of Mr Trump’s actions.
“We face a highly uncertain outlook with elevated risks of both higher unemployment and higher inflation,” he said.
“While tariffs are highly likely to generate at least a temporary rise in inflation, it is also possible that the effects could be more persistent.”
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