DUBLIN, Ireland — The broad reach of Lake County’s elite corporations is one with international influence. For instance, AbbVie is one of the largest tax contributors to the Irish economy.
For those in the Emerald Isle, that’s good news. But, Irish government leaders worry that such tax payments, which until recently have been under the financial radar may draw the attention of President Donald Trump and his “America First” drive.
Of course, Ireland isn’t the only nation where U.S. firms pay taxes and fees to operate their businesses and subsidiaries. Abbott Laboratories has nearly 90 international manufacturing sites, including 10 locations in Ireland which employ more than 6,000 workers involved in products ranging from diagnostic tests to medical devices to nutritional supplements.
North Chicago-based AbbVie is in the Top 10 of U.S. multinational companies, mainly pharmaceutical firms, with billions of euros paid to the Irish Exchequer in 2025, the Irish Times reported last week. AbbVie paid 371.7 million euros in tax payments. That amounts to $431 million U.S. dollars.
Full disclosure: I know folks who toil hard in the Big Pharma mines at AbbVie and enjoy their jobs. AbbVie employs nearly 3,000 employees across six sites in Cork, Dublin, Sligo, and Mayo.
Across the globe, AbbVie employs more than 11,000 people, including 6,000 Americans at 11 manufacturing sites. At the same time, it supports thousands of additional jobs with suppliers across the U.S.
While it pays Irish taxes, the company certainly plunks down its fair share of property taxes to the Lake County Treasurer’s Office. As do other county firms with Irish subsidiaries.
U.S. corporations have had far-reaching multinational operations since the end of World War II. Those have expanded because of the shriveling nature of global commerce as we have seen with the supply-chain logjam during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Supporters of multinational investment note the overseas transactions by American corporations qualify for U.S. business incentives, which reduces their overall tax footprint here, allowing for local investment. New U.S. tax rules now require companies with international facilities to detail taxes paid to host countries.
On the other hand, Abbott cut its tax bill last year by $366 million, claiming all its global profits were earned by a subsidiary in Malta, the island nation in the Mediterranean Sea, with no employees, according to a recent story in The New York Times.
AbbVie has pledged to invest more than $10 billion in capital in the U.S. over the next decade, including spending $195 million to expand active pharmaceutical ingredient production at its North Chicago facility along Sheridan Road. The new plant, which will expand AbbVie’s domestic production of neuroscience, immunology and oncology medicines, is expected to be operational in two years.
Besides AbbVie and Abbott, Deerfield-based Baxter International also has an Irish presence, opening its first manufacturing site in 1972 and now employing nearly 2,000 workers. Abbott facilities in Ireland first were opened in 1974.
Big Pharma is a major employer in the Irish Republic. The largely agricultural county — one estimate is a population of five million sheep equals the people population — has worked to lure U.S. firms to Eire.
In a ranking last year, Abbott Ireland was listed at 81st as the island nation’s largest employer; Baxter International at 235; Abbott Laboratories, 726; and AbbVie, 753. Pfizer International was ranked the fifth-largest employer in Ireland.
AbbVie’s enormous tax payments to the Irish government in 2025 pale in comparison to other U.S. firms, according to the Irish Times account. The largest four companies in tax payments were also members of the Big Pharma club.
Top was Eli Lilly, based in Indianapolis, which shelled out 5.69 billion euros, or $6.6 billion. It was followed by Pfizer, headquartered in New York City, at 870 billion euros, $1.02 billion; Regeneron, a biotechnology company located in the New York City metro area, 556.4 million euros, $645.2 million; and Johnson & Johnson of New Brunswick, New Jersey, paid 517.4 million euros, $600 million. The lone non-pharma firm in the top five was Big Tech giant Meta, with 489 million euros, $567 million.
The Irish Industrial Development Authority, the agency responsible for foreign investment, says the 1,800 multinationals with a presence in Ireland account for about 10.2% of employment, more than 310,000 employees, and some 66% of Irish exports.
Trade tariffs begun by the Trump administration have cut into Ireland’s export market to the U.S., which is the nation’s top exporting partner. Last year, American businesses and consumers bought just over 25% of all exported Irish goods.
As international commerce shrinks, the U.S. and its trading partners have become indelibly linked. Including across the Atlantic Ocean and the Irish republic.
Charles Selle is a former News-Sun reporter, political editor and editor. sellenews@gmail.com. X @sellenews
