Westport, Ireland
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In ancient Celtic folklore, tyrunag is the land of eternal youth, time is still and people do not age.
Today, in western Ireland, they are approaching bottling it.
Westport, a small coastal town in Mayo, the picturesque county, is an unlikely nerve center for the world’s Botox supply. The facility, run by Chicago-based pharmaceutical company Abbvie, employs at least 1,300 locals and around 500 additional contractors. This is the economic backbone of a town of just 7,000 people.
Treatment Botox – used for conditions such as muscle spasticity, migraine, overactive bladder, certain eye conditions, and excessive sweating – brought Abbvie $3.3 billion last year, often used to smooth out wrinkles on the face and produce $27.2 billion.
However, last week, US President Donald Trump took a step towards his goal of bringing that multi-billion dollar industry into his home, announcing a 15% tariff on all pharmaceutical exports from the European Union.
From the opening of Allagan in 1977 to the acquisition and expansion by Abbeby in 2020, the move is that it could destroy towns like Westport, transformed by plants.
Within the vast 61 acre campus, industry estimates that it is a sophisticated industry presence under Krogue Patrick, one of the nation’s most renowned pilgrimage sites, before exporting to around 70 countries.
According to the company’s 2023 submission, the US tops its list, accounting for 70% of total sales at its Westport plant.
Uncertainty about how tariffs affect it has created anxiety in some Westport, a community that cannot overstate the long-term benefits of the plant’s presence. It’s embedded in the community and runs everything from infrastructure to sports teams and local charities.
At Abbvie United Park, the home ground of the Westport United Soccer Club, many of the company’s workers and their families gathered to train or cheer from bystanders, saying tariffs could have a major impact.
Abbvie employees will not talk about records on CNN. But Ann Marie, the owner of a daycare center who chose not to give a last name for privacy reasons, said she had heard of many parents who work in plants and that she would keep their children in care.
“They are worried about their work. They just don’t know how it will go. Will that affect them? Are they going to work this time next year? Will the company continue?” she said.
“And that’s going to have a knock-on effect for me, you know,” she said: “If they don’t have a job, I don’t have a job.”
Brian Cusack, the Football Club Development Committee, has generally been brighter about the future, but believes that “many changes will happen, and probably won’t change for good.”
“Westport doesn’t know what it would be like without a place for American drug treatments, and we don’t want to know what it would look like without it,” said Cusack, who also works in the factory.
Last month, after weeks of uncertainty, the US-EU trade agreement was finally agreed. While Ireland and some of the wider blocs welcomed the agreement, other European leaders considered it a damage limiting exercise. The calm after the announcement was to be short-lived.
Singling Out Ireland – The world’s third largest pharmaceutical exporter and home to Pharma Giants’ Johnson & Johnson and Pfizer – Trump said last Tuesday that upcoming tariffs on imported drugs could reach 250% in the next 18 months. This threat arises as the United States is currently conducting a Section 232 investigation into whether foreign drugs pose a threat to national security. This is a process in which the outcome may invalidate current US trade transactions.
“We want medicines made in our country,” he said.
However, tariffs alone are unlikely to cause massive movements. The idea of bringing medicines back to the US resonates with Trump’s base, but putting it into practice is full of challenges.
Experts say that while some drug production could move to existing US facilities, a full-scale re-administration is unlikely due to high costs, regulatory hurdles, supply chain challenges and long timelines for building or relocating high-tech plants.
Anne Marie suggested that the US president’s move could be purely political, but said they still harbor widespread concerns.
Still, she pointed to the resilience of the town and Ireland, expressing her belief that Westport’s industry would last his administration.
“When he comes to power, it all will change again – like last time,” she said.
That’s the attitude that can be felt around town.
Mayo Rep. Peter Flynn told CNN when he rioted the area that tariffs created a “real headache” but the people there are “working on life.”
Flynn, who worked with allergans for nearly 30 years, said Trump’s driving force to bring production quickly to the US is unrealistic.
“This kind of ‘lift and shift’ approach that Donald Trump is talking about – that’s pointless,” he said. He argues that because of the serious logistical challenges it presents, it is extremely difficult to bring skilled workers, even within the country, not to mention the skilled workers it requires, he says he is leaving “at speed.”
He added: “Anyone considering a place to move to India and some of these other places where many graduates have come has taken the US off the map.”
Refusing to speak to CNN for this story, Abbvie has not shown plans to move Botox’s production hub.
Tackling tariffs in a recent public revenue call, President Abbabee Robert A. Michael said the company is “in constructive discussions with the administration on departmental tariffs,” and “evidently continues to invest in the US.” On Tuesday, the company announced a $195 million investment in its Chicago manufacturing plant. He said this is part of a broad commitment to investing more than $10 billion in US projects over the next decade.
Other major drugmakers have also announced that they will expand their investment in the US in response to new tariffs.
It is unclear what these investments mean for Ireland.
But that’s probably not great news. Last year, drugs accounted for Ireland’s total of €72.6 billion ($84.5 billion) to the US, totaling €440 billion ($51.2 billion).
Prior to the customs contract, Ireland appeared to be aggressively and prompt exports. Official trade data shows that over the first two months of this year, 20 billion euros ($23 billion) worth of pharmaceutical products have been shipped to the US.
And while the trade war appears to have been avoided for now, American consumers could be on the receivers of rising drug costs.
ING analyst Diederik Stadig told CNN that the 15% tariff could boost U.S. drug prices by 7% to 10%, increasing medical costs by up to $13 billion a year. Consumers may bear the burden over time due to higher health insurance premiums and rising drug prices at pharmacies.
For products like Cosmetic Botox, which are not covered by US health insurance, the cost of procedures is also already considered luxury. Analysts say it’s rising when it puts more strain on the wallet.
This is a concern for Westport hotelier Michael Lennon. Michael Lennon’s US customers are key to the tourism industry.
Lennon picked up an American guest who was on a beach near Crew Bay where he said he runs an equestrian trekking outfit.
“There’s innovative thinking in everything about our business…and I think we’ll adapt,” Lennon said as his jeep rattled along the wild Atlantic roads, a scenic route along the country’s rugged coast.
“My concern is that (increasing tariffs) can disrupt the US economy and all these Americans need to come to Ireland.”
He then recalled a conversation with a guest supporting Trump. He told him, “What’s good for America is good for Ireland.”
Lennon said he hoped it was true.
“But I don’t know, and she won’t,” he said.
