Donald Trump has accused Ireland of stealing the US pharmaceutical industry and the tax revenue that should have been paid to the US treasury, in a blow to the Irish premier, Micheál Martin, who had hoped to emerge unscathed from a visit to the White House marking St Patrick’s Day.
The US president showed grudging respect for Martin, alternately ribbing and complimenting him, while also launching several broadsides against the EU.
He repeatedly took aim at Ireland’s historical low-tax policies, which helped lure US multinationals including Pfizer, Boston Scientific and Eli Lilly to its shores.
Big pharma now drives Ireland’s €72bn (£60bn) worth of annual exports to the US, with taxes paid in Ireland on drugs consumed in the US.
“The Irish are smart, yes, smart people,” Trump said. “You took our pharmaceutical companies and other companies … This beautiful island of 5 million people has got the entire US pharmaceutical industry in its grasps.”
The US president told reporters in the Oval Office he did not want to punish the Irish too much, as it might risk support among the American-Irish vote, but said he was determined “to take back” his country’s “wealth”, predicting an easy battle with the EU.
“I think the Irish love Trump,” he said. “We won the Irish with a tremendous amount of [their] vote. I got it locked up pretty good unless I did something very stupid, like drained your country, your wonderful place of all of its companies. Maybe [then] I’d lose the Irish vote.”
Trump also said that previous presidents had “lost big segments” of the US economy to Europe and repeated his claim that “the EU was set up in order to take advantage of the United States”.
Referring to the EU’s successful lawsuit against Apple, forcing it to pay €13bn (£11bn) in back taxes to Ireland, he said: “Apple has been treated very badly … That is unfair.”
The US vice-president, JD Vance, wore shamrock socks to the Oval Office meeting. Photograph: Evelyn Hockstein/Reuters
In one of several fawning moments, Martin pointed out that Ireland had fought against the EU case in the European court of justice – a move born out of the country’s desire to hold on to US tech firms such as Intel, Microsoft and Google, which have sited their EU headquarters in and around Dublin.
He also said the Irish companies Ryanair and AerCap, which is the world’s biggest aircraft-leasing company, buy more US-made Boeing planes than anyone else.
Nodding, Trump said: “I’m not blaming you. I’m blaming the European Union. The European Union’s gone after our companies.
“We have a problem with the European Union. They don’t take our farm products. They don’t take our cars. We take millions of cars, BMWs and Mercedes-Benz and Volkswagens and everything. We take millions of cars.”
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EU retaliates against Trump tariffs with €26bn ‘countermeasures’
Referring to the former German chancellor, Trump added: “I said to Angela Merkel at the time, I said: ‘Angela, how many Chevrolets do we have in the middle of Munich?’ [She replied:] ‘Why, none’ … No, I’m not happy with the European Union.”
He said he did not want to “hurt Ireland” but just wanted what was fair.
“I’d like to see the United States not have been so stupid for so many years, not just with Ireland, with everybody,” he said.
After an hour-long discussion for the benefit of the press, Trump and Martin’s subsequent private bilateral lasted just 10 minutes, underlining the emphasis the president puts on meetings in front of the media.
Trump’s comments came as the EU unveiled plans to impose “countermeasures” on up to €26bn worth of US imports after Washington introduced 25% tariffs on global imports of steel and aluminium.
One EU official said there was no point negotiating with the US at this stage, saying it would be like arguing over rotten fish.
“It is not very productive to now start negotiating about removing the tariffs,” the official said. “You put a stinking fish on the table, and then you start negotiating to remove that stinking fish, and then you say: ‘Wow, we have a great result: there’s no stinking fish on the table.’ That is not a very productive conversation.
“What we are looking for in negotiations is a productive discussion about creating value to what is the largest trade and investment relationship in the world, which is the transatlantic relationship.”
