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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Comment
Simon Coveney

The US is turning its back on global trade. Ireland and the EU can’t afford to make the same mistake

Donald Trump holding up a signed executive order creating ‘reciprocal tariffs’ at the White House, Washington, 2 April 2025.
Donald Trump holding up a signed executive order creating ‘reciprocal tariffs’ at the White House, Washington, 2 April 2025. Photograph: Michael Brochstein/ZUMA Press Wire/REX/Shutterstock

Ireland believes in open, free trade and has build a strong, resilient economy by being the most globalised in Europe. We are a trading country. That is why the announcement on tariffs came as such a disappointment to us.

Imposing tariffs to force companies to locate in the US will fundamentally change how the world sees it. US economic dominance has not been built on scale or purchasing power alone, but on relationships and alliances, something it is now damaging. “Liberation day” risks forcing a realignment of how global trade operates, without the US at its centre, as countries rethink their relationship with the US and seek new, more reliable partners.

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