Ireland’s goods exports to the United States surged by 34% to €72.6bn (£60.4bn) in 2025, while imports from the US slightly decreased to €22.5bn (£18.7bn). This resulted in a goods-trade surplus of over €50bn (£41.6bn) for Ireland, according to new data from the Central Statistics Office (CSO).

These trade shifts have taken on added political importance with the return of Donald Trump to the US presidency. Trump has expressed concern about countries with large trade surpluses, suggesting they benefit unfairly from trade with the US. Last week, he introduced his “fair and reciprocal” trade plan, which could lead to higher tariffs or import taxes on goods from several nations, including Canada, Taiwan, India, and the EU, which he called “absolutely brutal on trade.”

So far, Trump has not singled out Ireland among the EU countries. The EU handles trade policy exclusively, meaning that only the EU, not individual member states, can negotiate trade deals or impose tariffs.

Ireland’s trade surplus with the US is primarily driven by the presence of pharmaceutical manufacturers. The CSO reported that in 2024, exports of medical and pharmaceutical products rose by 29% to nearly €100bn (£83.1bn), accounting for 45% of all Irish goods exports. One significant factor in this rise is Eli Lilly’s production of its weight loss drug, Zepbound, at a facility in County Cork.

US pharmaceutical companies are drawn to Ireland due to its low corporate tax rate. Brad Setser, a researcher at the US Council on Foreign Relations, has tracked the activities of these companies. In 2023, he told the US Congress finance committee, “There is no plausible explanation for the current scale of US imports of pharmaceuticals from Belgium, Ireland, Switzerland, and Singapore that isn’t tied to tax avoidance.”