Can Ireland prove that it isn’t a ‘tax scam’?

Howard Lutnick, former CEO of the financial firm Cantor Fitzgerald, and now Secretary of Commerce in the Trump administration, has quickly attained the status of pantomime villain in Ireland.

Last year, Lutnick criticised Ireland’s tax arrangements, saying ‘It’s nonsense that Ireland of all places runs a trade surplus at our expense.’ He increased his pressure on Ireland last week when he appeared on the All-In business podcast and sarcastically referred to Ireland as his ‘favourite tax scam’ – the one he was most looking forward to ‘fixing’.

This has prompted an increasingly nervous Irish government to make extra efforts to placate the Trump administration – which they previously treated with a degree of disdain. Tanaiste Simon Harris spoke to Lutnick in a hastily arranged phone call this week.

According to Harris, ‘it was good to have the call’ and he referred to it as ‘a useful opportunity to exchange views’. A Harris spokesman later expanded: ‘The Tanaiste took the opportunity to congratulate the Secretary on his appointment and said he looked forward to working with him and the US administration.