FOREIGN POLICY/TARIFFS/TRADE DEALS/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “President Donald Trump isn’t a drinker. But when the Irish prime minister comes to visit Thursday [3-15-18], Mr. Trump may be asked to consider how whiskey might get caught up in a complicated tit-for-tat that could be triggered by the aluminum and steel tariffs the U.S. announced last week.
Taoiseach Leo Varadkar, the prime minister of Ireland who is visiting Washington for annual St. Patrick’s Day celebrations, will emphasize to Mr. Trump the benefits of trade between the two countries, just as the president is preparing to enforce protectionist measures. The Irish leader carries a trove of data points, including that the U.S. has a surplus in services trade with Ireland and that 800 Irish companies in the U.S. employ 100,000 people… Ireland, which exports more than it imports, is a case study in efforts to prevent a pair of metal tariffs from turning into a full-blown trade war. The tiny island nation doesn’t produce steel, and its aluminum, though widely used in Europe, isn’t exported to the U.S. But Ireland has its own reasons to worry… The U.S. is the largest export market for Irish whiskey, and whiskey exports increased by 22% in the first half of 2017, according to the Irish Whiskey Association.”
-Siobhan Hughes, “Ireland Seeks to Avoid Whiskey War With Trump Visit,” The Wall Street Journal online, Mar. 15, 2018 09:12am