Tánaiste Simon Harris has said that the EU has "shown considerable restraint" in responding to Donald Trump's tariffs threats and remains focussed on preventing an outcome that "will be deeply detrimental to both the EU and US".
The Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade was speaking after holding an online meeting with senior representatives of pharmaceutical companies based in the US.
The meeting took place for Government to hear the views of companies about the ongoing threat of US tariffs against the EU, including pharmaceutical firms based in Ireland.
It came at a critical juncture in EU-US trade talks and amid the ongoing US Section 232 investigation into the pharmaceutical sector.
An important component of Ireland's economic relationship with the US includes significant, mutually beneficial trade and investment partnerships in the pharmaceutical sector.
In a statement after the meeting, Mr Harris said the EU has shown "considerable restraint" to date, and that a strong ongoing connection between the EU and US will benefit both region's "economic security".
"There is no doubt this is a crucial sector for our economy and pharmaceutical companies are here for many reasons," he said.
"They have access to a highly talented, skilled labour market, they have access too to an EU market of over 450 million people.
"The value that the industry places on this access and their bases in Ireland was clear to me from the call held earlier today."
Mr Harris said that when it comes to pharma, it is about achieving "the best outcomes for patients and citizens on both sides of the Atlantic".
"It is because of that that the main focus at this stage must be on avoiding an escalatory higher tariff outcome that will be deeply detrimental to both the EU and the US," he said.
"At this moment it is also fair to say that the EU has shown considerable constraint when it comes to counter tariffs, which underscores our desire to reach a negotiated settlement that results in mutually beneficial transatlantic trade and investment as soon as possible before August 1."
Speaking before the meeting, Mr Harris said that Section 232 investigations are "focused on national security issues; the integrated supply chain in pharma products between the EU, including Ireland and the US, supports rather than threatens our collective transatlantic economic security".
"Fundamentally, governments and businesses alike have an interest in mutually beneficial transatlantic trade and investment, in supporting jobs on both sides of the Atlantic, and in pursuing negotiated solutions to trade and economic disputes. This is at the core of my ongoing outreach, both to the US government and to representatives of key economic sectors both domestically and in the US," the Tánaiste added.
Mr Harris has engaged directly with the US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer on the pharma issue.
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Ireland's position is that the treatment of pharma should be within negotiations with the EU on an agreement in principle.
Ireland makes payments in royalties and licences to US pharmaceutical companies of an estimated €20 billion, which in turn supports manufacturing of finished products within the US, the EU and across the world.
There are around 49,000 people employed in the pharmaceutical sector in Ireland.
About 80% of what US pharma companies export back to the United States is not the finished product.
It goes into US factories and creates jobs for US workers.
The Government is continuing to engage intensively with the pharma sector as well as with EU partners and the European Commission.
