A trade imbalance between the US and Ireland was not specifically referenced in a call with the US Secretary of State, the Tanaiste has said, contradicting claims made by the American side.
It comes after the US State Department spokeswoman said Marco Rubio had discussed “the US priority to address the US-Ireland trade imbalance” with Simon Harris.
The readout from the Irish Government about their phone call referenced investment in the US but did not mention the trade imbalance.
Speaking to reporters on Thursday, Mr Harris insisted that the “trade imbalance was not specifically referenced” during the 20-minute call.
Pressed on whether the US readout was wrong, he said: “No, the Americans obviously have their perspective in relation to the issue of trade.”
Mr Harris, who is Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, said they had a “good conversation” on a range of topics including the Middle East, Ukraine, European security and defence, and trade.
The Tanaiste said he was the one to bring up trade during the call: “When it actually came to trade, it was actually me who brought it up.”
He said he did this because he was conscious that while he holds responsibility for trade in the Irish Government, it is not included in Mr Rubio’s portfolio. The US Commerce Secretary is Howard Lutnick.
Mr Harris added: “I did want to take the opportunity on the call with him to say that, look, I know when any government gets elected, including a US government, of course it has every right to pause and examine its economic policies, its trade policies, its relationship with other countries.
“That’s fine. That’s a democracy, but we do have a very strong transatlantic relationship between the US and Ireland.
“I was impressed by the fact that he was aware of that. He actually said to me ‘I’m aware that Ireland is now one of the top investors in the US’.
“He said ‘I think you’re at least in the top 10’ and I was able to say, ‘yeah, we’re actually number six’. And that was the extent of the discussion on trade.”
Queried on whether he brought up the matter of the existing trade imbalance, Mr Harris said: “I didn’t bring up the trade imbalance, I brought up the importance of the transatlantic trade relationship.”
Pressed on what exactly was discussed about the trade imbalance, he said: “Exactly what I said. The trade relationship was discussed.”
The US Department of State has been contacted for comment.