Ireland is expected to be one of the most affected countries when President Trump announces a new round of tariffs later this week.
EU goods are expected to face a tariff of about 20% when entering the United States.
Among EU countries, Ireland is the most reliant on the US as an export market.
In 2024, Irish goods exports to the US were worth €73bn (£61bn), almost a third of the country’s total exports.
What about the ‘American’ companies that plonked their headquarters in Ireland for tax purposes?
Surely that makes them Irish for tarrif purposes?
Yes, but the Irish part of the company does business in the EU, while the American part does business in the US. For example, Google Ireland isn’t exporting phones to the US. They’re made in Taiwan (or wherever) and imported to the US by Google America. Businesses set up this way so that the US can’t impose taxes on their EU business.
(That’s my understanding, anyway. It might not be 100% accurate.)
That’s a small part of it. Digital sales from google play, App Store, etc are another huge factor. Just look into the Irish loophole.
the exporter need not be based in the origin (‘tariffed’) country to have their goods taxed on import.
funneling profits to overseas subsidiaries to lower a corporation’s overall tax burden is a different issue.
The challenge is usually repatriating this funds back to the “home” country. However, many multinationals have been quite happy leaving the profits outside of the “home” country for additional foreign investment in those regions.