The shipments have vaulted Ireland, a country of only five million people, into the second-largest goods-trade imbalance with the U.S., trailing only China.

Roughly 8 million American teens are living with obesity - that's one in five. For many, their weight has become a painful physical and emotional burden, isolating them from their peers as they struggle to slim down.

A huge surge in Ireland's goods exports in the first quarter of 2025 was partially due to demand for weight loss drugs in the United States, the central bank in Dublin has said. The main reason for the big rise in Irish exports was businesses getting goods into the US before President Donald Trump's tariffs took effect in April.