Sign in. It’s quick, free and it’s up to you.
An account is an optional way to support the work we do. Find out more.
IRELAND’S PHARMACEUTICAL SECTOR is bracing itself as Donald Trump’s so-called ‘Liberation Day’ tariffs are unveiled later today, but the sector doesn’t expect “immediate” job losses from the looming trade war.
Instead, industry group the Irish Pharmaceutical Healthcare Association (IPHA) believes the real impact in the dispute between the White House and the EU will be seen “four or five years from now”.
This is due mainly to the timescale for investment in the industry’s large scale manufacturing plants.
This timescale could create “significant commercial challenges” for US companies based here, which includes major names like Pfizer, Johnson & Johnson and MSD.
There are around 50,000 people employed across Ireland in the pharma sector, with an estimated 30,000 working for US companies with plants here.
Trump has launched a volley of tariffs impacting nations this year, promising that his ‘Liberation Day’ will free the US from a reliance on foreign goods.
Fears were heightened in Ireland last week when Trump name-checked pharmaceutical companies in Ireland while speaking in the White House.
If such sector-specific tariffs came to pass, Ireland would be particularly exposed given how reliant the pharmaceuticals sector here is to the US export market.
If so, the IPHA – which represents the creators of prescription medicines and vaccines – does not expect “immediate” job losses but warned of some pain ahead.
“Everybody’s just waiting to see what happens,” said Eimear O’Leary, communications and advocacy director for the IPHA.
While it’s “hard to say anything for definite” on how the tariffs will play out, O’Leary warned: “Tariffs will impact, and they will certainly create significant commercial challenges for companies based here.”
Despite this, O’Leary said that the IPHA is less concerned that pharmaceutical companies are “going to pick up and leave” due to the trade war.
She pointed to the likes of Pfizer’s €1.2 billion Grangecastle facility in Dublin as an example of the “bricks and mortar” investment that will be hard to give up, further namechecking Sligo, Mayo, Kerry, Tipperary and Limerick as regions across the country which have significant pharma facilities.
“From a physical capacity, they’re not just going to let that investment go either. So this whole thing of tariffs being introduced tomorrow and jobs being lost, that is not immediately going to be the case,” O’Leary said.
This is because of “five decades of continuity of policy” within Ireland, forming a “stable environment” and a highly skilled workforce, O’Leary continued.
However, O’Leary said that what could “potentially happen is companies look forward to four or five years time” for where they will invest later.
That’s where the job creation might not happen.
This would be in line with projections revealed by Minister for Finance Paschal Donohoe earlier this month when he said that the tariffs could result in the loss of up to 80,000 jobs in Ireland.
O’Leary said these were “worse case scenario” projections and the industry is hopeful it doesn’t reach that low point.
She added that the IPHA and its European partners are urging the EU to maintain “cool heads” and not to retaliate with tariffs on medicines and pharma in two weeks’ time.
Taoiseach Micheál Martin told the Dáil yesterday that the EU is waiting on today’s announcements to make a “fresh assessment” on how to respond, with the Fianna Fáil leader and Tánaiste Simon Harris holding discussions with senior European Commission figures this week to put forward Ireland’s stance.
Harris has been speaking with over a dozen countries with strong pharmaceutical industries so as to exchange views on how best to respond.
Ireland’s pharma industry is also waiting to find out whether the US tariffs will affect finished or unfinished products, or both.
“More often than not it is not the finished product that we are exporting,” O’Leary explained.
“When you see figures like €44.4 billion worth of exports going to the US, that isn’t always of the finished medicine. It could be unfinished products – some of the active ingredients that make up the medicines that have been finished in America.”
The IPHA also said that it doesn’t believe US companies would be able to pass on the increased price to US customers.
Instead, US companies will be forced to absorb the costs for tariffs on medicines in the short-term instead.
While there has been a hope from some in the industry that it may pressure the Trump administration to ease its tariffs over months to come – given it could hurt US voters’ pockets – it may take some time for those agreements to unwind.
O’Leary said this was because current contracts with insurers and other US bodies are “hard to unpick”, but this “may differ from company to company” as times goes on.
With reporting by Muiris O’Cearbhaill
So much for Republicans supporting the ‘free market’. They just imposed high tariff taxes on themselves! They must love high taxes. The only prices falling are stock prices as the stock market tanks. They’re cutting public spending and redistributing taxpayers money to the oligarchs.
@Housing Hunger Games: I mean even if it does bring manufacturing back to USA over the next years, won’t everything still be more expensive as wages are higher there and imported goods will have tariffs too?
@Housing Hunger Games: they’re redistributing tax payers money to the military, policing and Israel
@Housing Hunger Games:
Manufacturing of the actual drug is less that 5% of the cost of making a drug…
The R&D, clinical trials, regulation…. It is where most of the work is….
That is not tarried and Moving all that is very expensive….
I would wait and see on this one…
Other news from outside Ireland are reporting pharma will not be hit as hard……yet. If they are right that’s great for now, but it is only for now, other areas will be hit. This country needs a plan, we won’t survive as a tax haven for companies to filter their profits earned elsewhere through. This govt seems brain dead to that, the next generation needs a future. Easy money from housing refugees in hotels with tax payers money, allowing cos filter profits thru our low tax regime that were earned elsewhere and taxing people to death for poor services will eventually bring us back to the 80s.we need a much higher standard of politician with real vision.
@Eddie Garvey: Getting old now, Eddie.I’d sooner go back to the 80s, tho.At least the kids had a chance. 2025, no hope, no chance.The greatest little country in the world is failing Irelands children. But who’s fault could it be??
@Paul Gorry: Hello Paul. How are you this fine evening? All is good here!
@Paul Gorry: as fornyour comment you are absolutely correct. I read yesterday that from 1970s into the 80s it took approx. 30 weeks of one salary to pay for a family of 4. Now it takes 65 week. Hence two parents are forced to work. As formwhose fault it is i personally would blame banks and hedge funds. Granted they are enabled by eejit politicians who are told what to approve, and the gleefully do it for their 30 pieces of silver, you, I and the rest of us be damned.
@Oh Mammy: Sorry to hear that troll. By the way, evening is long gone. Serious question: Are you ok?
@Paul Gorry: I finished school in the 80s, so many of my classmates left, there was nothing, unless you knew someone who could give you a start somewhere, it was awful job wise. But I’ll agree with you on one thing about the 80s, people were nicer, humbler and if you could find a future it was a nicer place to live.
@Paul Gorry: a new leaf my friend, a new leaf.
@Eddie Garvey: Deffo was Eddie totally agree. Meeting people i know from back in the day these days, the majority own a home. As bad as it was, they had a ” slim ” chance. 2025, no chance..
@Oh Mammy: Ah, Gwan, so. Make sure to stick up to it, ok.Pinky promise ?
@Paul Gorry: you can hold me in check. A new person I tell ya!
@Oh Mammy: cmere don’t want a new person. I hate you just the way you are.
@Paul Gorry: sorry. That person is gone my friend, flew the coop. Namaste.
@Paul Gorry: What’s all this greatest little country in the world stuff? Who is actually saying that? The housing crisis here is shameful though it is the same kind of thing across the western world. Housing has become commoditised as vested interests have realised that a drip feed of supply can extract the maximum amount out of people across most of their lifetime. The government however is to blame for a lot of it. I think a lot of people now feel that immigration has probably gone too far which is probably right but if housing was plentiful and affordable you would not have half the backlash against it that we see now. In terms of the US the MAGA gang have gone full nuts. Most of this tariff stuff makes no economic sense and I think it’s becoming clear now with comments from the likes of Vance that this is more about the culture wars. They see Europe as a namby pamby, LGBT friendly, post religious, woke (throw in any buzzword you like) place that they want to spread their ideology to. Thats what this has all been about. They are just unshackled now.
@Paul Gorry: Take off those rise tinted glasses. In the 80s if you could get a job you could buy a home. Many couldn’t though and had no choice but to emigrate, most never came back. Things were way worse back then on pretty much every metric.
People weren’t nicer back then too. Society was much more closed and judgmental largely driven by the church. It was much easier to abuse a position of power
@Eddie Garvey: Don’t sweat it. It’s going to be tough yes, but The Bronzer will also go away again, just like anything else…
@Paul Gorry: I won’t mind a life with less SUVs, less everything really.
@John Moore: they (US) are looking to curtail the globalisation of their manufacturing industry as they believe they are getting a raw deal, time will tell how it plays out. On the housing front of course immigration has had a huge impact on demand and rent pressures but you won’t here that from this government
@Paul Gorry: you must be joking: the 1980s were a disaster. Simply no comparision with the opportunities that people have now.
@Eddie Garvey: So you are saying we stop what we are doing right now which is working and do something which may work in the future because we don’t really know what is going to happen in the future.
How about monitoring and adapting? Our country was a third world country 50 years ago close bankruptcy… We are doing a lot better than that now…
@smatrix mantra:
The removal of Trump,and Putin would be a joy to millions,upon millions.of people.
Sooner rather than later.
@Jack Dermody: I never said that, I said we are a tax haven, which is perfectly legal (morality of it is a different argument), maybe even understandable given our start as a country. What I said is that the present political class has no vision and no plan for when this unsustainable tax haul stops (like Norway for eg who have used their unsustainable oil to create an economy post oil). This country was bankrupt in the 50s, it went bankrupt in 2008 because there was no vision and no plan B. Other countries didn’t because other countries had a diverse economy and listened when economists said we were too dependent on one sector.
The Lemass era all the Irish political establishment parties have allowed foreign people and entities to have sway over the Irish economy and abandoned future generations. Given away our fishing oil and gas to foreign people in 1973 EEC membership whilst Norway built up a Sovereign wealth fund over the same timeframe. Troika 2008 Financial crash with FF and FG gave more foreign people free reign on Irish land and homes with vulture funds with FG ministers in government & continued by the current government with ministers also fully paid up vulture funds members.Trump Tarrifs also expose the Irish political establishment parties have to choose Irish people or the EU and lobbyists and we know the Irish people will be sacrificed as they have in the past to suit their own political ends.
@Ailbhe MacThomais: so true my friend, unfortunately it did not pay to be nice and humble it was eat or be eaten.
@Phillip Smyth: and because of all that we are here now with a government elected by the people for the people, are not fulfilling the mandate the people gave them, and now this clown who is definitely of his rocker has come to the table.
@Ailbhe MacThomais: Let’s not forget that people’s utter disregard for what they can borrow lead to their bankruptcy. Blame the gov all day but people ARE da ft.
@smatrix mantra: lead from the political class with making the Irish economy boom wasnt booming enough was stated by one of the TD’s at the time. Added to the fact that the money was mainly a product of German banks that lent money to France which gave money to Greece to buy French fighter jets and money to Italy, Ireland, and Spain for the purposes of buying property which crashed and in stepped the Troika.
I think a recession is our only way of stopping this immigration racket that’s going on
@Dixie: we let this immigration get out of hand and now it’s a non fixer, that’s rolling down the hill and gathering speed and recession, we have ourselves to blame we let it happen everyone knew.
@Dixie: you must be a shellfish person who does not people who have different coloured skin to believe that there is an immigration racket
It’s a huge problem for workers in Ireland.
Fortunately, our politicians aren’t worried. They have spent the past four months cat-fighting amongst themselves for the privilege of hearing their own voice echoing through an empty dail chamber.
Nobody apart from Aontù comes out of this with any credibility whatsoever.
They, and fine gael in particular, have ignored a housing crisis that’s been building for 10 years at this stage.
They have sold out our own youth and foolishly spent burdening taxes with no thought for tomorrow.
@Thomas Sheridan: Aontu and credibility can never again be put in the same sentence. He abstained from voting against the Lowry pact yesterday, so he’s agreeing with the government
@Paul Harte:
Voting for something because it is right is the correct thing to do. Partisan voting is immature but now the norm for the power hungry left.
It’ll be grand. Seriously.
just what Irish housing crisis needed badly ,I am in favour of mega recession so house prices go down big time with rents,let’s keep our young Irish at home , walking around local towns now are swamped with non Irish because of fffg policies to suit rich for low wages high profit economy
@jn: When house prices drop/dropped to below the cost of building them we arrived at a bad place. ?
Hope we don’t have another bad recession around my area weel have nothing to show for all our bluster.
“If there are idiots in power those who elected them are well represented “–Mahatma Ghandi.
###k Israel and Nethanyahu. I hope to wake up some morning to the news that the dog Nethanyahu has been eliminated.
Happy Liberation Day one and all finally Irelands tax scam economy comes to an end. What a time to be alive. Absolutely glorious sight.
@Rian O’Sullivan: go away you sickening troll. The state of you, wishing for this on the population of Ireland.
@Franno: Silence Incel its the start of building a true economy for Ireland and getting rid of refugees taking money out of our economy. Its a fabulous day. Tax scam days are over.
@Franno: Just mute the tool. I have and it’s soo much better here now
@FoxyBoiiYT: Silence troll
If trump wants to take aim at Ireland with tariffs then the response is an easy one. No more access to Irish airspace for US military and no more refuelling in Shannon. Let them work out that tactical nightmare. Shannon is a key US refuelling spot. Just take it away.
@Eoin Jackson: i’m fairly sure it’s possible to fly between America and Europe without refuelling in Shannon.
Not worried. The Bronzer will go away again. Be a bit patient and enjoy life.
We have to wait for Jaffa and what he is going to do maybe he might consider his actions a bad idea, with all the huge Irish votes that put him there
I presume addiction centers will be very popular as mobile phone will be no.1 family breakdown after alcohol and drugs
I am as worried about the Pharma sector as They were worried about all us tradesmen whose wages were slashed and so many lost their jobs circa 2009-2011
Government here didn’t care neither ,only concerned at the time was the shirt & ties in the Banks
“We are all going to die”, said nobody, all excluded from the Big Pharma wealth in the first place. Cheap penthouse in Spencer Dock, anyone?
@Luas Vuitton – Penneys Drag Queen: Spot on ,
“Take Your Medicine”, hah?
Pharma are unlikely to cease all manufacturing as they also supply the EU. Is it not more likely that they will split the production to avoid the bilateral tariffs?
have your say