US tariff escalation on EU pharma imports during talks would show ‘extraordinarily bad faith’ – Harris

Tánaiste Simon Harris has said that President Donald Trump‘s administration would be showing “extraordinarily bad faith” if it escalated tariff actions against the European Union’s pharmaceutical sector at a time when both blocs were engaging on a trade deal.

Mr Harris, who is also the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, said on Thursday that there should be no further action by the US in relation to taxing pharmaceutical imports, as it was halfway through a 90-day pause, during which the US reduced the tariff on goods imported from the EU from 25 per cent to 10 per cent.

The Tánaiste was speaking in Brussels where he is attending a meeting of EU trade ministers which will discuss a list of US products that would be subject to import tariffs, to the value of €95 billion, should the US insist on maintaining the tax of 10 per cent on imports. The EU has called for a zero-tariff regime between both blocs.

Speaking as he entered the meeting, Mr Harris said pharma was a very important sector not just to the Irish economy, but also to the European economy.

“There are 10 member states that have a significant pharma presence,” he said.

“It would be extraordinarily bad faith if the US were to take any actions against a sector whilst the EU and the US are in a process of debate. I repeat the call that there should be no further escalatory reactions by the US when we’re trying to actually engage and find a way forward that is good for the EU economy, good for the Irish economy and good for the US economy as well.”

Mr Harris said that both blocs were almost halfway through the 90-day pause and there was “not a moment to lose” in terms of getting formal engagement going.

Asked what products Ireland wished to keep off the list of US products, he said that products relating to agrifood, medical technologies, and aviation were a particular cause of concern and impact for Ireland.

He added that there were 5,000 items on the countermeasure products list and it would take some time to go through. The list, he added, would only be used as a contingency, in the event that the US did not retreat from its decision to impose 10 per cent tariffs on EU exports to the US.

“The EU and Ireland want to be in a position to tear up this list,” he said.

Asked about his view on a suggestion from the Austrian foreign ministers that Israel and Canada should be invited to become part of an enlarged European Economic Area Mr Harris said he was opposed to any such arrangement for Israel and would in fact be seeking to have the current EU-Israel association agreement changed, to reflect human rights violations by Israel.

“The Israeli government is engaging in war crimes in Gaza. There is an EU-Israel association agreement in place. Within that association agreement, there are human rights clauses. They’re not there to make people feel good or to pad out the document. They’re not discretionary, they’re not optional.

“They’re a core part of how the European Union does its business with other countries and other parts of the world, and they’re clearly not being adhered to.”

Mr Harris said he agreed with the Spanish and Dutch governments that the agreement needed to be reviewed.

“I now intend to intensify the engagement on that point with counterparts. I intend to formally raise it at the next meeting of foreign ministers. I hope to be joined by a number of other countries in relation to that.”