A telephone conversation took place on Tuesday between Minister for Foreign Affairs Simon Harris and US secretary of state Marco Rubio.
Later that afternoon, the Government issued a statement about it, noting the talks were positive with a “wide range of issues” covered.
The pair had, it said, spoken about the “mutually beneficial nature of the Irish-US economic relationship”, including the fact that Irish investment in the US creates hundreds of thousands of jobs.
However, the positive tone changed 24 hours later when the US state department released its readout of the same call.
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It said Rubio and Harris had discussed “the US priority to address the US-Ireland trade imbalance”.
This reference jarred in Dublin, especially given there was no mention of it all in the Harris statement about the same call.
With US president Donald Trump and members of his administration regularly raising the threat of tariffs, it would be an understatement to say the Irish-US trade surplus is a highly sensitive matter for the Coalition right now.
There’s a clear indication from the US side’s readout – the fact that the Republic sells more to the United States than it buys - is firmly in the US president’s crosshairs, with Taoiseach Micheál Martin’s St Patrick’s Day visit to Washington DC imminent.
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In terms of goods, Ireland has a substantial trade surplus (some €50 billion last year) with the US, driven mainly by exports of pharmaceuticals and chemicals manufactured here across the Atlantic.
But when services – especially in the tech sector – are factored into the equation, the pendulum swings very much in the US’s favour.
Those subtle arguments might not be enough, however.
There was another twist when Harris spoke to the media. He insisted several times that the issue of a “trade imbalance” never arose during the course of his 20-minute call with Rubio. He said he brought up the strong trading relationship, but an imbalance was not mentioned.
There is now a direct contradiction. The Tánaiste is saying the US take is incorrect.
There is one possible out.
The readout from the state department officials was an account of the meeting, rather than a full transcript, so there is a possibility that “trade imbalance” may have been inserted by an official as shorthand for the issue being discussed.
[ Rubio raises US-Ireland ‘trade imbalance’ in phone call with HarrisOpens in new window ]
If there is a further response from the US authorities – insisting the phrase was used – it will put Harris on the spot.
Senior Government sources insist too much has been made of the differing readouts, noting that the conversation with Rubio was “positive and constructive”.
“We’d expect similar engagement next week,” said one source.
It has, nonetheless, flagged a potential difficulty for Martin in advance of his meeting with Trump next week.
Given the US president’s unpredictability, the last thing he needs is an atmosphere of tension and disagreement in the run-up to the annual shamrock ceremony on Tuesday.
