US President Donald Trump's latest tariffs targeting pharmaceuticals do not apply to countries that already have negotiated trade deals, a White House official has said.
Asked whether pharmaceutical tariffs apply to trading partners such as the European Union and Japan that already have trade deals, the official said the Trump administration would honour the 15% cap as part of those pacts.
It comes after US President Donald Trump announced plans to impose 100% duties on certain pharmaceutical products from next Wednesday 1 October.
The EU stressed this morning that its trade deal with the US, reached in July, shields such exports from tariffs higher than 15%.
Brussels pointed to the joint statement under which Washington agreed to ensure the rate on pharmaceuticals, semiconductors and lumber does not exceed 15%.
"This clear all-inclusive 15% tariff ceiling for EU exports represents an insurance policy that no higher tariffs will emerge for European economic operators," trade spokesman Olof Gill said.
"The EU and US continue engaging towards implementing the joint statement commitments, while exploring further areas for tariff exemptions as well as wider cooperation."
Making the announcement, Mr Trump said the 100% tariff would be levied from 1 October on "any branded or patented pharmaceutical unless a company is building their pharmaceutical plant in America".
He defined this as "breaking ground and/or under construction".
The US announcement "came out of the blue in some respects," Mr Gill said, "but it doesn't have any meaningful impact for the European Union".
"We [EU] have a clear all-inclusive 15% tariff ceiling arising from our deal with the US ... and we look forward to that being implemented soon," he told RTÉ's Today with Claire Byrne.
Mr Gill said the 15% rate is spelled out in "black and white" in the agreement and is a "clear commitment".
He confirmed that European Commissioner for Trade Maroš Šefčovič met his US counterpart Jamieson Greer yesterday and "discussed this and a number of other topics".
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Earlier this week, Washington cut tariffs on auto imports from the EU to 15% as part of the agreement, down from 27.5%.
The European Commission, which leads trade policy for the 27-member union, is working to secure carve-outs for other sectors, including drinks.
Tánaiste Simon Harris said the 15% cap on pharmaceuticals remains in place.
"We will be studying the impact of this announcement, which includes a number of exemptions, together with EU colleagues.
"I want to stress, however, that the EU and US Joint Statement issued on 21 August last made absolutely clear that any new tariffs announced by the US on pharmaceuticals under its Section 232 investigation would be capped at 15% for pharma products being exported by the EU.
"This remains the case and underlines again the value of the agreement reached last month," Mr Harris said in a statement.
Ireland is one of the biggest exporters of pharmaceutical products to the US from the EU, accounting for €33bn of €120bn of pharmaceutical exports last year.
Enterprise Ireland 'absolutely confident' 15% tariff remains
Enterprise Ireland said it was "absolutely confident" the 15% tariff ceiling on EU goods still applies, despite fresh threats of higher levies from the US President.
The agency's Head of the Trade and Tariff Response Team, Jonathan McMillan, said the trade deal reached between the EU and US in July was reaffirmed in the joint statement issued last month.
He said there is "definitely a deal in place."
Mr McMillan said the terms of the deal were "reiterated again on 21 August, and we are absolutely confident that that ceiling still applies."
"It's 15% for pharmaceutical and other product areas," he said.
"We're also really confident, working with our colleagues across government, that there's further negotiation happening on other areas, and we're hoping for our clients that there'll be other areas that will have zero tariffs or carve outs, as they're called."
"We're still lobbying, and we're still working with our partners to try to negotiate with the US on those."
Mr McMillan said the trade agreement reached between the EU and US provided at least some level of certainty, however, he said "it remains a very complex situation."
"If you're selling products, exporting products into the US market, you have to go through customs clearance, you have to pay a tariff, and that's a complicated thing."
"So that's why we have specific supports in Enterprise Ireland, specific resources to help those companies navigate their way through that," he added.
Additional reporting AFP, Sean Whelan, Fergal O'Brien
