DUBLIN, Feb 19 (Reuters) - Ireland's foreign direct

investment agency is hopeful that the impact of threatened U.S.

tariffs on the country's large pharmaceutical sector will be

limited by a U.S. desire to protect consumers and by EU

solidarity, its CEO said.

A cluster of U.S.-owned foreign multinationals, mainly in

the technology and pharmaceutical sectors, employs about 11% of

Irish workers and the government is hugely reliant on the

corporate tax they pay.

Trump on Tuesday said he intends to impose auto tariffs "in

the neighborhood of 25%" and similar duties on semiconductors

and pharmaceutical imports.

He did not provide a date for announcing those duties and

said he wanted to provide some time for drug and chip makers to

set up U.S. factories.

"I don't believe we're facing the end of the world," though

any tariffs would obviously cause disruption and inflation, IDA

Ireland Chief Executive Michael Lohan told journalists on

Wednesday.

"You can't replicate regulated industries such as pharma ...

overnight."

The world's 10 largest drugmakers, including U.S. giants

Johnson & Johnson ( JNJ ), Pfizer ( PFE ) and Merck ( MRK ), all

have large plants in Ireland, which is also a major exporter of

medical devices.

That drove a record Irish goods trade surplus with the

United States reached of 50 billion euros ($52 billion) in 2024.

But just 16% of Irish pharmaceutical exports are finished

products, meaning any tariffs would hike the cost of finished

products for U.S. consumers and be counterproductive for the

administration, Lohan said.

"Ultimately no administration wants to damage its own

economy," he said.

Around 75% of Ireland's multinational produced goods are

exported to international markets outside of North America and

thus not subject to U.S. import tariffs, Lohan added.

The IDA is also hopeful that the European Union, which is

responsible for Irish trade negotiations will use its clout to

protect Ireland as it did in the wake of Britain's exit from the

European Union.

(Writing by Conor Humphries; Editing by Toby Chopra)