Ireland's trade surplus widened to €12.6 billion in May of 2025 from €7 billion in the corresponding period of the previous year. The jump was owed to a 29% surge in exports to €23.3 billion, the sharpest on record for the month of May, lifted by an 86% surge in exports to the United States as the major firms and production plants in Ireland aimed to ship goods before US president Trump enforced tariffs on the European Union. Of those goods, most of the exports were chemicals and related products (€9.4 billion), with a significant portion of those belonging to the medical and pharmaceutical industry, which was recently threatened with more tariffs. In turn, imports fell by 3% to €10.7 billion amid a 22% decline in foreign purchases from the US, largely on lower inputs of chemicals and related products at €0.9 billion.