By Andrea Shalal and Gram Slattery
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. President Donald Trump criticized Ireland on Wednesday for luring away U.S. companies with its low tax rates but pledged to work with Irish Prime Minister Micheál Martin to address what he called "massive deficits" in trade between the two allies.
Trump met with Martin in the Oval Office and again at an evening event, where the Irish leader presented Trump with a bowl of shamrocks at an early St. Patrick’s Day celebration. The two also attended an annual lunch event at the Capitol.
The talks - Trump’s first sit-down with a foreign leader since his explosive meeting with Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskiy last month - skirted differences over trade and the conflict in Gaza, although both leaders said they would work to expand cooperation between the two countries.
The annual White House meeting around the time of St. Patrick’s Day is usually a straightforward affair for both the United States and Ireland. Recent meetings were with Trump’s proudly Irish-American Democratic predecessor, Joe Biden.
Trump, sitting next to Martin in the Oval Office, said "of course" he would respond to retaliatory tariffs announced on Wednesday by the European Union, of which Ireland is a member, and said April 2 would mark the start of reciprocal tariffs on cars and other goods.
White House officials had no details about the expected response after the EU slapped tariffs on $28 billion of U.S. goods in response to U.S. tariffs on steel and aluminum - measures Trump hopes will rebuild U.S. manufacturing.
"Whatever they charge us, we’re charging them," Trump said, of the planned reciprocal tariffs. "If they charge us 25 or 20% or 10% or 2% or 200%, then that’s what we’re charging them."
He said Ireland had lured away U.S. pharmaceutical companies and others with low tax rates, telling Martin that while he respected that decision, he felt U.S. leaders should have acted to prevent the off-shoring moves.
He called Ireland a beautiful country, but said the "massive" imbalance in trade needed to be addressed.
Martin lauded Trump’s own investment in Ireland, a golf course in Doonbeg, and said he was the only president to have invested in the island country, and hailed the two countries’ commitment to trade and innovation.
"We’ve built prosperity through free and fair trade with partners all over the world, and particularly here in these United States, let us continue to build on that foundation," he said during the evening event. "Let us continue to work together to make sure that we maintain that mutually beneficial two-way economic relationship that has allowed innovation and creativity and prosperity to thrive."
Earlier, in the Oval Office, Martin said companies like Eli Lilly (NYSE:LLY), which has extensive operations in Ireland, had recently announced plans to invest more heavily in the U.S.
The Indianapolis-based drugmaker announced plans to more than double U.S. investments announced since 2020 to $50 billion. It has been operating in Ireland since 1978 and currently employs over 3,500 people across three sites there.
Irish companies were also investing more in the U.S., Martin said, citing investments by Ryanair and others. "It’s only fair ... I think it’s a relationship that can develop."
Trump said he expected the two countries to work together.
"There’s a massive deficit that we have with Ireland and with other countries too, and we want to sort of even that out as nicely as we can, and we’ll work together," he said.
While none of Trump’s trade measures have been aimed directly at Ireland, the nation of 5.4 million has a trade surplus with the United States and U.S.-owned foreign multinationals employ a significant portion of Irish workers. It will be subject to any EU tariffs, given that trade is governed by the bloc.
Trump has also threatened to slap tariffs on pharmaceutical products, a major industry in Ireland.
Martin commended Trump for his "unrelenting" pursuit of peace in Ukraine and the Middle East, and played down differences over Gaza, saying that both countries were pressing for the release of hostages held by militant group Hamas and a ceasefire.
Trump has resumed his close alliance with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu since taking office in January, and he has said that all Palestinians should be removed from Gaza, at least temporarily, following a peace deal.
The Irish leader repeated his call for a surge of humanitarian aid into the Palestinian enclave and his support for a two-state solution, but did not directly address a question about Trump’s call for removing Palestinians from Gaza.
"Nobody is expelling any Palestinians from Gaza," Trump shot back to a question on the issue.
U.S. Vice President JD Vance, who joined Trump and Martin in the Oval Office, also hosted the Irish leader at his vice presidential residence for a breakfast.