Minister to discuss US tariffs on Irish goods
The Minister of State for European Affairs, Helen McEntee, will discuss the imposition of US tariffs on Irish goods at a series of meetings in Washington this week.
She is due to holds talks on Capitol Hill and with the American Chamber of Commerce.
In October it was announced that a range of goods from the EU were to be subjected to US duties including Irish butter, cheese, liqueurs and pork products.
Irish whiskey made in Northern Ireland was on the list of goods but whiskey made in the Republic of Ireland was spared.
Now however there are growing concerns that Irish whiskey could be affected.
The tariffs were announced in retaliation for EU aircraft subsidies and earlier this week the World Trade Organisation said Europe had not complied with obligations to remove subsidies to Airbus.
In response, the office of the US Trade Representative said it is considering increasing the tariff rates and subjecting additional EU products to the tariffs.
Speaking in Washington, Helen McEntee described tariffs as short-sighted and counterproductive and that she will be raising the issue in her meetings this week.
She also urged the EU and the US to sit down for talks.
“From an Irish point of view, we’ve always tried to advocate engagement and to bring people around the table to resolve this,” she said.
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