Toll lot of pain

IRELAND'S budget plans could be rocked for years to come by Donald Trump's tariff wars.

- BY KEITH FALKINER

The warning was sounded by Taoiseach Micheal Martin as talks between the US and EU go down to the wire.

Trump has threatened a 30 percent levy on all goods from Europe being shipped into the US.

It comes as the Government is drawing up a new National Development Plan to tackle long term goals such as housing, energy, transport and water supply.

Mr Martin said the goal of the NDP and the upcoming budget is "the transformation of Irish infrastructure over the next number of years, very significant investment particularly in energy and the grid, electricity, and of course in water, roads and public transport".

But he warned: "Of course the backdrop to that is the very troubling, difficult negotiations with the United States and the European Union in relation to tariffs and trade.

"Obviously if there's a breakdown in those [talks] or if tariffs at the scale being suggested by the US were ever to come to pass it would significantly alter our projections budgetary-wise for the next number of years."

And yesterday Tanaiste Simon Harris warned it would be the end of trade "as we know it."