Tánaiste Simon Harris has said he believes there is a "landing zone" for an EU-US trade agreement despite US President Donald Trump actions to undermine negotiations and threats of tariffs that would "stop" transatlantic trade as we know it.
Speaking to Pat Kenny on Newstalk, Harris said that the White House and the European Commission had a draft document in place, they were trying to progress to a framework of agreement.
He added that negotiators and politicians from both sides had to "remain calm" in the face of Trump's threats on Truth Social of tariffs on EU goods from August 1.
"We've been here before where President Trump has talked about 50 per cent tariffs and hasn't implemented them, has talked about certain deadlines and has moved them," Harris continued.
"I think in his heart of hearts, he knows, and he knows as a businessman, that tariffs of that level would not just disrupt trade, but would in many ways stop trade as we know it functioning between Europe and the US."
Regarding the possibility of a deal, Harris said that the "constant level of volatility and uncertainty" being caused by Trump is the major challenge.
The fact that the US has been seen to renege on trade deals with Canada and Mexico, withdraw from the Paris climate agreement, and undermine the World Health Organisation also erodes trust in the White House
Asked, then, how the EU could trust in a deal agreed with the US, Harris said the EU would do so but not blindly because the EU, as a trading bloc of 460 million people, is not powerless.
"There are people who voted for President Trump whose jobs and livelihoods depend on that trading relationship as well, so this is much more of a two-way street that sometimes the bombastic rhetoric suggests that it is," he said.
Harris continued by saying that Europe needed to make it very clear to Trump that "we don't want to get into tit for tat, tariffs, retaliatory tariffs."
But if there is no deal, he added, "of course we're not going to just sit idly by and allow our economy and the European economy be hit by very significant tariffs."
He went on to express confidence in European trade commissioner Maroš Šefčovič, who worked closely with Ireland during Brexit, and said he was thankful that Ireland is approaching this "from a position of strength" with full employment and budget surpluses.
Harris will meet online with representatives from multinational pharmaceutical companies on Wednesday, and he used such companies as an example of the interdependence of the US and Europe.
"A lot of what the pharma companies in Ireland send back to the US actually requires further work in US factories, so it creates jobs right across the United States of America.
"This is a deep economic relations. It really matters. We have to get a deal. We have to work hard, but we do have to prepare for all eventualities."
*This article was originally published on BusinessPlus.ie.
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