Donald Trump has launched a fresh attack on the EU during a meeting with Irish premier Micheal Martin in the Oval Office.
The US president said he did not want “to do anything to hurt Ireland” but added that the trade relationship between the countries should be focused on “fairness”.
It comes after the president imposed 25% tariffs on global steel and aluminium imports to the US – prompting Canada to announce retaliatory tariffs on US goods worth $29.8bn (£16bn) from tomorrow and the EU to impose counter tariffs on €26bn (£22bn) of US goods from 1 April.
Meanwhile, Sir Keir Starmer said he was “disappointed” to see the president impose global tariffs on steel and aluminium and promised to “keep all options on the table” in how the UK would respond.
During Mr Trump’s meeting with Mr Martin, the president raised the “massive” trade imbalance between the two countries and said Ireland was “of course” taking advantage of the US.
He said the EU was “set up in order to take advantage of the United States”.
Asked by Sky News’ Ireland correspondent Stephen Murphy if Ireland was also taking advantage, Mr Trump replied: “Of course they are.”
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He added: “I have great respect for Ireland, for what they did and they should have done just what they did. But the United States shouldn’t have let that happen. We had stupid leaders, we had leaders who didn’t have a clue.
“All of a sudden Ireland has our pharmaceutical companies, this beautiful island of five million people has got the entire US pharmaceutical industry in its grasp.”
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Mr Trump said he loves Ireland, where he has a golf course – but said he wishes the US had “not been so stupid for so many years, not just with Ireland, with everybody”.
Many US pharmaceutical companies have set up their manufacturing facilities in Ireland due to its low 12.5% corporate tax rate.
Irish firms then pay a royalty fee to US parent companies so they can use formulas to make products – meaning Ireland could be the hardest hit EU member by Mr Trump’s 25% tariffs.
‘I would have imposed 200% tariffs’
Mr Trump said if he had been president when those companies started to move to Ireland, he would have imposed a 200% tariff on them so they could not sell anything into the US and they would have “stayed here”.
The president said he would like to see American pharmaceutical companies returning to the US, but expected Mr Martin to “fight on that issue”.
He also told Sky News he would “absolutely” place tariffs on cars from the EU.
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Mr Trump accused previous presidents of having “lost big segments” of the US economy and said the EU “treats us very badly”, referencing a recent ruling against Apple.
“They have not been fair. They sue our companies and win massive amounts of money. They sued Apple, won 17 billion US dollars and they use that for other reasons, I guess, to run the European Union,” he said.
“So I’m not knocking it. They’re doing what they should be doing, perhaps for the European Union, but it does create ill will – and as you know, we’re going to be doing reciprocal tariffs so whatever they charge us with, we’re charging them. Nobody can complain about that.”
Ireland correspondent
Well, that went well.
An Oval Office meeting that in any other St Patrick’s week would have been regarded as almost unimaginably confrontational – this time around the Irish delegation will be floating on air.
Micheal Martin was in the lion’s den today, the first leader to step into the Oval Office since Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s verbal bloodbath, and you could forgive the Irish PM for being apprehensive.
This was always going to be the most important visit of a taoiseach to the White House in generations. What is usually a jovial green-tinged occasion was this year imbued with a new sense of gravity and nervousness.
The Irish government knew it was in the president’s crosshairs – any small country that boasts a huge trade surplus with the US was bound to be a target for this administration. American figures put that surplus in goods at around €80bn (£67bn) last year, although Irish statisticians insist it was a mere €50bn (£41.9bn) – still a record.
In the Oval, I managed to ask the president if Ireland was taking advantage of America. “Of course they are,” he replied. But Mr Trump is at heart a businessman, and it sounded more like a sneaking admiration.
“I have great respect for Ireland, and what they did,” he said. Ireland did exactly what they should have done, he continued, referencing the luring of lucrative US multinationals. But he placed the blame firmly on “stupid” American leaders who “allowed” it to happen. Mr Martin sat beside him, saying nothing.
The EU was set up to exploit America, Mr Trump said. It was “abuse”. Again and again, it was the Brussels bogeyman, not the Emerald Isle, that bore the brunt of his attack.
I asked if he would respond with more tariffs to the new EU tariffs. “Of course,” Mr Trump responded. After an anecdote about the lack of Chevrolets in Munich, I asked would he now consider tariffs on the crucial European car industry – he replied in the affirmative.
Mr Martin sat beside him, saying nothing.
When the taoiseach did speak, it was to hit the Irish talking points – the Ireland-US relationship was a “two-way street”, with the Irish currently the sixth-largest investor in the US.
“Just look how many Boeings Ryanair is purchasing” was the theme of Mr Martin’s argument.
The leaders joked about Mr Martin’s boxer father. Mr Trump spoke admiringly of Conor McGregor and Rory McIlroy. The minutes ticked away… Ireland unscathed.
They finished with a discussion about the president’s Irish resort at Doonbeg in County Clare. Mr Trump lauded the Irish efficiency at approving an expansion plan, and decried the subsequent EU approval period of several years. Once again – Ireland good, Brussels bad.
There was so much nervousness in Irish government circles. Now they must be wondering what the fuss was all about.
‘Great honour’ to meet Irish Taoiseach
Despite his criticism of Ireland, Mr Trump said it was a “great honour” to have the taoiseach at the White House.
He said the US has “tremendous” business relationships in Ireland “and that will only get stronger”.
The US leader said his personal relationship with Mr Martin was “very, very strong and very, very good” as he thanked him for coming to Washington DC to celebrate St Patrick’s Day.
He added that Mr Martin did not “look nervous” about the subject of tariffs during their meeting.
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Taoiseach reminds Trump of Irish investment in US
The taoiseach praised Mr Trump’s work on “peace initiatives” and said the two countries have a “very good relationship, a historic one”.
But, hinting at the tariffs imposed by Mr Trump, Mr Martin said: “It’s a two-way street. We are investing a lot more in America.”
He said he understands where Mr Trump is coming from, but added that Irish companies Ryanair and aircraft leasing firm Aercap “buy more Boeing” planes than anybody else outside the US.
