So what exactly was said?
Tánaiste Simon Harris has contradicted the U.S. State Department account of a phone call earlier this week between himself and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
The phone exchange took place on Tuesday.
According to a report in the Irish Times, a readout of the call provided by U.S. State Department officials afterwards said that the two men had “discussed the US priority to address the US-Ireland trade imbalance."
This, stated the report, was a reference to the fact that the U.S. "buys more goods and services from the State than it sells to the Republic, also called a 'trade deficit' – a key gripe of Mr. Trump’s administration in its relations with several European countries."
However, the report added, speaking in Britain on Thursday after a UK-Ireland political summit, the Tánaiste denied the State’s trade surplus with the U.S. had been discussed at all.
“The trade imbalance wasn’t specifically referenced. I was on the call. I was on it for over 20 minutes. It was a very good conversation,” said Mr. Harris who is schedule to visit the U.S. next week for St. Patrick's Day events.
The Tánaiste, who is also Minister for Foreign Affairs and Defence, will be in Philadelphia and New York.
Mr. Harris said he was the one who brought up trade in the call with Mr. Rubio, but only in the context of the extensive trade links between the Republic and the U.S.
“I didn’t bring up the trade imbalance, I brought up the importance of the transatlantic relationship,” he said.
Harris said that Secretary Rubio had said to him: ‘I’m aware that Ireland is one of the top investors in the U.S."
Added Harris: “I was able to say ‘we’re actually number six.’ That was the extent of the discussion on trade.”
The Times report said that in a readout of the call supplied by the U.S. State Department, officials said that they had “expressed eagerness to work together to address our shared interests. They discussed the US priority to address the US-Ireland trade imbalance and reaffirmed the importance of our partnership in addressing issues like Gaza, the conflict in Ukraine, and space co-operation.
“They also discussed energy security and co-operation with US companies operating in Ireland, two areas of increasing interconnectedness between our two nations.”
The report indicated that there was no mention of the discussion on the trade imbalance in a statement supplied by Mr. Harris’s office after the call.
"Mr. Harris’s statement said only: 'We agreed on the mutually beneficial nature of the dynamic US-Ireland relationship today, which we look forward to celebrating across the United States during our St Patrick’s Day programmes. Ireland is the sixth largest investor in the United States, with the top 10 Irish companies alone in the US employing 115,000 people.'
"Irish officials are nervous that Mr. Rubio’s comments signal that president Donald Trump will seek to corner Taoiseach Micheál Martin on the Irish trade surplus with the US during his visit to Washington next week for the St Patrick’s Day engagements in the White House and on Capitol Hill."
The report pointed out that Ireland exports about €50 billion more goods than it imports from the U.S. every year, a number driven principally by pharmaceutical exports.
"The US president and many of the senior figures in his administration regard the existence of trade deficits as evidence that the US is being exploited by its partners – and have vowed to end the practice, partly through the imposition of tariffs."
On its website, in the section devoted to Ireland and under the heading "Bilateral Economic Relations" the State Department states: "Economic and trade ties are an important facet of overall U.S.- Irish relations. The United States is a major goods exporter to Ireland, ranking second only to the United Kingdom.
"U.S. goods exports to Ireland include pharmaceutical products, electrical components and equipment, computers and peripherals, aircraft, and optical/medical instruments. The United States is Ireland’s top export destination; about 27 percent of all Irish goods exports go to the United States. Irish goods exports to the United States include pharmaceutical products, organic chemicals, optical/medical instruments, and beverages. U.S.-Irish trade in services is growing as well. U.S. services exports to Ireland include intellectual property licenses, research and development, and management consulting services. Major Irish services exports to the United States include insurance and information services."
This would give the impression of a healthy, indeed thriving, trade relationship. There is no mention of a trade deficit favoring Ireland or complaint of a trade imbalance.
