Ireland exported goods with a total value of €134.4 billion in the first five months of the year, an increase of almost 50 per cent on the same period last year, as companies rushed to send goods to the US ahead of tariffs.
The Central Statistics Office (CSO) said on Thursday that the value of exports of pharmaceutical and medicinal goods climbed by almost three-quarters to €13.7 billion in May compared with a year earlier.
The sector, which is dominated in the Republic by multinational companies, has been bracing itself for impact from US president Donald Trump’s trade policy. Although the White House has so far declined to place tariffs on pharmaceutical imports to the US, Mr Trump said this week that he was likely to impose levies as soon as the end of the month.
In anticipation of those duties, pharmaceutical companies have been stockpiling goods in the US.
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Jane Burmanje, statistician in the CSO’s international trade in goods division, said the overall increase in Irish exports has largely been driven by ballooning exports to the US.
“Year to date, January to May 2025 exports of goods to the US increased by 153 per cent (€42.8 billion) to €70.8 billion compared with the same period last year (€28 billion),” Ms Burmanje said.
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Robert Purdue, head of dealing at global financial services firm Ebury, said the threat of “punitive tariffs” has driven a “rush to accelerate shipments” to the US.
“It suggests 2025 will be a year of two halves with an artificial spike in H1 likely to be followed by a slump as exporters restock and take stock of the new global trade environment,” he said.
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“New threats of significant tariffs on pharmaceutical products will be hugely concerning for the economy given the critical role this sector plays in Ireland.”
Janette Maxwell, tax partner at Grant Thornton Ireland, also said the trend is unlikely to continue in the long term, particularly if Mr Trump follows through on his threat of 30 per cent tariffs on all European imports.
“Traders are enduring ongoing instability and unpredictability, and this alone will risk damage to transatlantic trade relations, notwithstanding any introduction of potential tariffs,” she said.
“Therefore, it is possible that Irish traders will seek alternative export markets as US consumers may simply not pay the inflated prices that would be inevitable should the 30 per cent tariff rate be introduced on Irish goods.”
Mr Trump told reporters on Tuesday that the White House could introduce tariffs on pharmaceutical goods simultaneously with the introduction of 10 per cent levies on a range of goods next month.
“Probably at the end of the month, and we’re going to start off with a low tariff and give the pharmaceutical companies a year or so to build, and then we’re going to make it a very high tariff,” he said.
This story was updated on 17 July 2025 to correct the time period for €13.7 billion worth of pharmaceutical and medicinal goods to May 2025.
