The Minister for Finance, Paschal Donohoe, has held talks with the Trump administration on the imposition of US tariffs on Irish goods.
Minister Donohoe is in Washington for a series of meetings and today raised the issue of tariffs with the Acting White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney.
They discussed the fact that Ireland has not been involved in the issues that are at heart of the current application of tariffs.
"It's clear we all need to reengage now on what the future trading relationship between the EU and America will be and maybe that might provide a way in which this issue can be alleviated," Minister Donohoe said.
From tomorrow, a range of goods from the EU will be hit with new US tariffs including Irish butter, cheese, liqueurs and pork products.
The move is likely to impact well-known Irish brands such as Baileys and Kerrygold.
Earlier this month, the US Trade Representative's Office released a list of hundreds of European products that will be subjected to new 25% tariffs in retaliation for EU aircraft subsidies.
The World Trade Organization authorised the US to impose duties on $7.5 billion worth of European goods after it decided that the EU failed to end subsidies for Airbus.
The EU is pushing for tariffs of around $10bn on American goods in a parallel process to be decided by the WTO early next year.
Minister Paschal Donohoe acknowledged that the tariffs will take effect from tomorrow but said he will be raising the issue with US officials and looking at possible alternatives.
"I will use my time in Washington to again emphasize that these tariffs will have an affect of the flow of trade, to outline what those consequences will be and to see if in the coming weeks and months, there are other ways of resolving these issues that don't involve tariffs," he said.
