Plans by Donald Trump to place tariffs on EU agri-food exports to the US would pose a "significant threat" to Irish food and drink exporters, the Irish Farmers' Association (IFA) has said.
The farm organisation said that roughly €1.9 billion of Irish agri-food exports would be threatened by these tariffs if they come into effect.
The IFA's warning comes amid speculation that the US president will unveil a raft of new tariffs next week on April 2, including potentially on the EU.
IFA president Francie Gorman said that the US market is an imported outlet and accounts for around 11% of Ireland's total food and drink exports.
"We have succeeded in gaining a foothold in what is a large market. Not only that, but we have done it with some very strong brands that are built on the foundation of farmers producing quality material for processing," Gorman said.
He added that the scale of the tariffs being talked about from the Trump administration would "have a serious impact on what we have achieved."
Within the €1.9 billion figure of agri-food exports from Ireland to the US, dairy accounts for some €830 million and drinks, predominately whiskey, accounts for around €900 million. Together dairy and drinks account for 91% of exports to the US.
Ireland also exports pigmeat (around €23 million), beef (around €8.8 million) and seafood (around €3.8 million).
IFA chief economist Tadhg Buckley drew particular attention to the importance of the Kerrygold butter brand to the Irish agriculture sector.
"Kerrygold is now the second-best selling butter brand in the US, where we sent almost €500 million of product in 2024," Buckley said.
"The market accounts for about 7.5% of our total dairy exports. That helps to underpin the milk price paid to Irish dairy farmers," he added.
"Global dairy markets are in relatively good health at the moment, but the introduction of tariffs could have far-reaching impacts as we hit the peak supply period in Ireland.
"There is also real concern for the grain sector if the drinks sector is hit," Buckley said.
The IFA said that there is a trade surplus on food and drink between the EU and US of €17.6 billion on the side of the EU.
This level of surplus is higher than the overall surplus across all trade between the EU and US.
Buckly said there will be a "good deal of apprehension" ahead of April 2 over what Trump will ultimately decide.
"The danger is that a trade war will hit the value of our exports. Within the EU, our export profile as a proportion of what we produce is far greater than most other countries," the IFA chief economist said.