The CSO figures for July show that exports fell by 5% in July 2025 compared to July 2024. The US remained, however, our top export partner, and within this, the largest exports were of medical and pharmaceutical products.
This month, however, we have seen exports to the US decline when compared with July 2024 - in July 2025 versus July 2024 (from €5,282 million to €4,374 million), a 20% drop. Within this, the decline was primarily in exports of pharmaceutical products, which decreased from €4 billion to €2.8 billion.
This was to be expected, as stockpiling needs decreased and tariffs came into effect. For the first seven months of 2025, exports to the US totalled €80 billion, compared to €39 billion for the same period in 2024. This increase was primarily in chemical and related products (€30.5 billion in 2024, rising to €70 billion in 2025).
July's export figures reflect the pause period between the introduction of tariffs at a 10% universal rate (plus the MFN rate) in April 2025, across most sectors, excluding pharmaceuticals and semiconductors.
At this point, it was unclear what the outcome of the EU-US trade negotiations would be. However, this changed at the end of July, with a handshake agreement in Scotland promising a maximum reciprocal tariff rate of 15% across two divisions:
While there was continued uncertainty around the outcome of the Section 232 investigations into pharmaceuticals and semiconductors, there was also the assurance that these sectors would not face more than a 15% tariff rate.
By the end of July, therefore, there was less uncertainty for exporters, with a sense of calm beginning to seep in, not withstanding that the joint-agreed statement was not issued until the end of August.