Are we at the beginning of Donald Trump’s global trade war?

And how vulnerable is Ireland to Trump’s tariff threats?

Listen | 30:59
Cargo containers await loading onto ships at the port of Tianjin, China, on Tuesday, February 4th. Photograph: The New York Times
Cargo containers await loading onto ships at the port of Tianjin, China, on Tuesday, February 4th. Photograph: The New York Times

At the start of this week US president Donald Trump took the global economy into uncharted territory by threatening a multi-front trade war.

After last-minute negotiations on Monday, hefty tariffs for Canada and Mexico were suspended for 30 days. China then saw a 10% duty imposed on their imports into the US and retaliated soon after with their own tariffs on US energy and vehicles.

The EU is also in Donald Trump’s sights, but it is unclear as to what kind of concessions he will want. Ireland is quite exposed in all this as bilateral trade with the US is hugely important - what could this all mean for our main exports and our country’s foreign direct investment?

To get into the potential ramifications for Ireland and the wider global economy, host Cliff Taylor is joined by Irish Times Economic Correspondent, Eoin Burke-Kennedy, Irish Times China Correspondent, Denis Staunton and Professor of International Politics at the Clinton Institute in UCD, Scott Lucas.

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Produced by John Casey with JJ Vernon on sound.