By Camille Sheehan, Office of Public and Media Affairs
Ambassadors Kirk and Sapiro met with Irish Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation Richard Bruton today, to discuss President Obama’s State of the Union proposal for a new U.S.-EU trade agreement. The proposed Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) will strengthen what is already the world’s largest economic relationship in terms of goods and services trade and global economic output.
Ambassador Kirk and Minister Bruton spoke at the Office of the United States Trade Representative in
Washington D.C.
Ireland holds the Presidency of the European Council through June 2013 and will play a key role in any U.S.-EU negotiations. With important dairy and beef industries, Ireland has already expressed strong support for the newly proposed trade agreement. During their meeting, Ambassador Kirk spoke with Minister Bruton about the proposed outcomes of the partnership, including the importance of fully liberalizing tariffs on agricultural products. While the United States and Ireland have historically had a strong economic partnership, both countries believe that the TTIP can provide a boost to economic growth and support jobs on both sides of the Atlantic.
U.S. goods exports to Ireland totaled $7.4 billion in 2012, and Ireland was the 36th largest export market for U.S. goods last year. In 2011, U.S. private and commercial services exports to Ireland totaled $28.3 billion (latest data available), a 12.6 percent increase from 2010.
