Irish goods exports to the United States jumped 34% to 72.6 billion euros (60.4 billion pounds sterling) in 2025 while its imports from the United States fell slightly at 22, 5 billion euros (18.7 billion pounds sterling).
This meant that Ireland had a surplus of trade in goods with the United States of just over 50 billion euros (41.6 billion pounds sterling), according to data from Ireland Central Statistics ( CSO).
These commercial models have acquired political importance since Donald Trump found the American presidency.
He considers countries with large trade surpluses as enjoying the United States.
Last week, he launched his “fair and reciprocal” plan for the trade which could open the way to major prices or import taxes on goods from many countries.
Trump mentioned Canada, Taiwan and India as well as describing the EU as “absolutely brutal on trade”.
Until now, Trump has not given any indication that he would seek to one Ireland among EU countries.
Trade policy in the EU is called “exclusive jurisdiction” meaning that only the EU can negotiate trade agreements and impose prices, rather than individual states.
The main reason for Ireland’s trade surplus with the United States is the presence of pharmaceutical manufacturers that export most of their Irish production to the United States.
The CSO said that in 2024, global exports of medical and pharmaceutical products increased by 22.4 billion or 29% to just under 100 billion euros (83.1 billion pounds sterling).
These products represented 45% of all Irish products exports.
A probable factor for the increase in exports in 2024 is that Eli Lily manufactures her weight loss medication, Zepbound, in an installation of the Cork county.
American pharmaceutical companies are in part in part because of the low tax rate of the country’s companies.
Researcher Brad Setser, who works for the American Council for Foreign Relations, followed the activities of pharmaceutical companies.
In 2023, in evidence of the Finance Committee of the American Congress, he said: “There is no plausible explanation on the current scale of American imports of pharmaceutical products from Belgium, Ireland, Switzerland and Singapore which is not linked to tax avoidance. “
