April 14, 2025: US President Donald Trump in the Oval Office of the White House in Wasington, DC.White House Flickr

Ireland was again namechecked by US President Donald Trump on Monday, April 14 when he was asked in the Oval Office about potential tariffs on pharmaceuticals.

"Pharmaceuticals we're going to do," Trump responded when asked about tariffs on pharmaceuticals.

"We don't make our own drugs, our own pharmaceuticals. We don't make our own drugs anymore.

"The drug companies are in Ireland and they're in lots of other places, China.

"And all I have to do is impose a tariff. The more, the faster they move in. The higher the tariff - it's inversely proportional. The higher the tariff, the faster they come.

"And, yeah, we're going to be doing that. That's going to be like we have on cars. We have, as you know, a 25% tariff on cars. We have a 25% tariff on steel and aluminum and that's what that category fits right now."

When asked if he has a percentage and timeline in mind, Trump said: "I have a timeline. Yeah, not too distant future.

"And we're doing it because we want to make our own drugs. We're doing it because we want to make our own steel and aluminum, lumber, other things."

Trump previously mentioned Ireland on March 26 when teasing pharma tariffs, saying: "We're going to be doing tariffs on pharmaceuticals in order to bring our pharmaceutical industry back.

"We don't make anything here in terms of drugs, medical drugs, different types of drugs that you need, medicines.

"It's in other countries, largely made in China, a lot of it made in Ireland - Ireland was very smart, we love Ireland, but we're going to have that."

Figures from Ireland's Central Statistics Office (CSO) show Ireland exported €44.4 billion worth of medicinal and pharmaceutical products to the US last year.

Trump's latest mention of Ireland comes less than a week after the US President announced a 90-day pause on the sweeping tariffs he had announced only a week earlier.

As per Trump's original announcement, the European Union, including Ireland, would be facing 20% tariffs - though not (yet) on pharmaceuticals - effective from April 9.

On the evening of April 8, Trump further teased pharmaceutical tariffs while speaking at an event at the National Republic Congressional Committee: "We're going to tariff our pharmaceuticals.

"And once we do that, they're going to come rushing back into our country because we're the big market, the advantage we have over everybody is that we're the big market.

"So we're going to be announcing very shortly a major tariff on pharmaceuticals."

On April 9, however, Trump announced on his Truth Social platform a 90-day pause on the tariffs, but also announced "a substantially lowered Reciprocal Tariff during this period, of 10%, also effective immediately."

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Coincidentally, Trump announced the "pause" on his tariffs the day that Ireland's Tanaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade Simon Harris was in Washington, DC for high-level meetings, including with US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick.

Harris learned of the pause while live on RTÉ News, and just before his meeting with Lutnick.

Speaking after his meeting with Lutnick, Harris told RTÉ News that the 90-day pause "is a significant period of time, whether it's enough remains to be seen."

Harris noted that "10% tariffs still aren't good, tariffs are bad, so we need to be cautious in relation to this."

He continued: "But, crucially, what this has done is provide the space that the European Commission, European member states, and Ireland has been calling for - it's been a big part of our diplomatic and political effort over the last while - to try and create space for real and meaningful engagement."

Regarding Trump's earlier mention that he was planning to roll out tariffs on the pharmaceutical sector, Harris said the 90-day pause, like with the other tariffs, could provide space for negotiations.

After acknowledging that the situation is "fluid," the Tánaiste said: "I think at the end of the day, as opposed to the start of the day today, I think we have to welcome the degree of relative certainty in time and space that has now been created for meaningful engagement.

"This is always what needed to happen - mature, calm discussion."

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On Monday, Harris said it was "good to see negotiations underway," responding to European Commissioner for Trade and Economic Security Maroš Šefčovič's post about having met with Lutick and US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer.