Majority of Irish exports to the US still exempt from tariffs
President Trump’s threat to impose 100% tariffs on pharmaceuticals from October 1st, albeit with a get-out clause for firms building plants in the United States, has failed to come to fruition. Rather, the White House has confirmed these tariffs have been paused, allowing time for similar deals, akin to that with Pfizer, to be concluded. In return for a 3-year exemptions from any tariffs, Pfizer committed to $70bn of fresh investment in the US and to provide price discounts to US Medicaid. So US pharmaceutical tariffs remain at 0% for now. The bulk of the €73bn of Irish goods exports to the US in 2024 were chemicals/pharmaceuticals, which remain mainly exempt. So Ireland’s exposure to US tariffs remains low, with only 2%-3% of total exports affected. Of course, this exposure could rise. On that point, in September, the Central Bank of Ireland revised up its projections for Irish GDP growth to 10.1% and 3.8% in 2025 and 2026 respectively, despite assuming a 15% tariff would apply to Irish pharmaceutical exports.
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