It is "highly likely" that US President Donald Trump will proceed with further tariffs on the EU on 2 April the Tánaiste has said.
Speaking to the media after a sitting of the Government Trade Forum focused on the tariffs, Simon Harris said: "We have to be very honest: At this stage, it looks highly likely that there could be significant disruption in terms of announcements from the United States in early April.
"It's important that we respond firmly across the European Union in relation to this."
Mr Harris welcomed the delay in implementation of EU countermeasures until the middle of April, adding: "I hope that that time can be used for intensive, sensible, calm negotiation to find a way forward - because at the end of the day, tariffs are bad for consumers and the US-EU relationship economically is so interdependent."
Mr Harris, who is also Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, updated the Forum on his calls with EU counterparts and European Commissioner for Trade Maroš Šefčovič.
"But the point is we've got to control what we can control, and we've got to influence what we can influence.
"And that means in an Irish context, we have to really look at things around competitiveness and how we can support the continued offering that Ireland has here as a great location to create jobs to invest and to help our economy grow."
'Tariffs before talks'
He added that the US appears to want to implement "tariffs before talks".
Mr Harris said: "I think it looks highly likely at this stage and the working assumption would have to be that President Trump seems determined on 2 April or in and around then to announce a series of tariff measures on the European Union.
"I think that's really regrettable. We'd much rather have talks before tariffs, it seems the United States wants to have tariffs before talks.
"We think that approach is wrong, but we have to control what we can control. So, we continue to make the case for engagement now.
"And let me be very clear - because sometimes there's misinformation and disinformation out there - the European Union wants to talk today, wants to find a way forward today.
"But you've obviously got to have an interlocutor that also wants to talk."
Hurting consumers on all sides
The Government Trade Forum, was attended by several ministers, to update business stakeholders on the latest trade developments.
Mr Harris was expected to reiterate Ireland's view on tariffs that they are economically counterproductive and would disrupt deeply integrated supply chains, which benefit businesses and employers on both sides of the Atlantic.
Tariffs drive inflation, hurting consumers on all sides.
Increased protectionism is not in the interests of citizens or businesses.
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The meeting was expected to discuss the Economic and Social Research Institute data on the impact of tariffs on the Irish economy.
A working paper by the ESRI and the Department of Finance found the domestic economy could contract by 2% over the next five to seven years if US tariffs on EU goods are imposed.
The Tánaiste was due to confirm there has been significant engagement with the European Union and the United States over recent days and weeks to articulate Ireland's position on tariffs.
The chief executive of Ibec has said that the Government and Trade Forum should focus on what "we can influence" regarding EU retaliatory measures against the US over tariffs.
Danny Mccoy said Ireland is "part of team Europe" and must ensure the bloc does not implement measures that are "damaging to Europe and particularly to Ireland".
Speaking on RTÉ's Morning Ireland, Mr McCoy warned that goodwill towards Ireland from EU counterparts has been "dissipating by some of the stances we've taking".
This, he said, was due to the country's position on "international policy and in terms of our contribution to European defence".
He described the goodwill from European colleagues as "an issue", adding "we've got lots of things that we need to do in our society and it's going to be uncomfortable".
Additional reporting: PA
