US president Donald Trump has signalled that all imports into the country will face tariffs, a move that could spark tit-for-tat trade wars across the global economy as well as hitting Ireland’s valuable €54 billion export trade with the US.
Addressing business and political leaders via video link at the world Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Mr Trump said he planned to cut business taxes in the United States to as low as 15 per cent and beckoned business leaders to come and make their products in the US.
“But if you don’t make your product in America, which is your prerogative, then very simply, you will have to pay a tariff – differing amounts, but a tariff – which will direct hundreds of billions of dollars, and even trillions of dollars into our treasury to strengthen our economy and pay down debt,” he said.
Mr Trump has previously said he would levy tariffs on goods coming in from Mexico, Canada and China but now the plan seems to apply across the board.
Mr Trump claimed that the EU treats the US “very, very unfairly”, selling cars to the US by the million while refusing to take US farm products or US cars. “We’re going to do something about it,” he said.
World Trade Organisation chief Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala earlier told the Davos meeting that any tit-for-tat trade wars prompted by Mr Trump’s tariff threats would have catastrophic consequences for global growth, urging states to refrain from retaliation.
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In his first major foreign policy speech since Monday’s inauguration, Mr Trump also urged Saudi Arabia and oil-producing cartel Opec to bring down the price of oil, claiming this would end the war in Ukraine.
“If the price came down, the Russia-Ukraine war would end immediately. Right now, the price is high enough that that war will continue,” he said. Oil prices dropped as Mr Trump spoke while stock markets remained steady.
[ EU trade fight with Trump seems inevitableOpens in new window ]
Mr Trump also seemed to put himself on a collision course with the US Federal Reserve by urging it to cut interest rates “immediately” to bolster the US and global economy. He also repeated his call for Nato countries to increase defence spending to 5 per cent of gross domestic product.
Asked about the EU’s “regulatory regime”, Mr Trump said prior to his political career he was seeking approval for a development project in Ireland, which he said the Irish authorities had approved in a week, only to be informed he would have to seek EU approval, which might take five years. “I realised right then that’s a problem”.
Since taking office, Mr Trump has set about dismantling much of his predecessor’s Joe Biden’s domestic agenda, signing executive orders to scale up oil and gas exploration, clampdown on immigration and pardon most of those charged or convicted over the attacks on the US Capitol in 2021.
He has also pulled the US from the Paris Climate accord, the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the global deal on multinational tax, which could have significant implications for Ireland.
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