Taoiseach has ‘serious concerns’ on how tariffs could affect Northern Ireland

By Gráinne Ní Aodha (PA)

There are “serious concerns” about how new tariffs could affect Northern Ireland, Irish premier Micheal Martin has said.

Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald asked that the Irish Government work “in lockstep” with the Northern Ireland Executive on the response to a more hostile trading environment.

The import taxes announced by Donald Trump last week, including a 10% charge on UK goods and a 20% mark on EU goods, including Ireland, took effect from midnight Washington time.

Although a lower tariff of 10% applies to Northern Ireland, as part of post-Brexit trading arrangements, the region remains in the EU single market for goods.

If the EU decides to impose retaliatory tariffs on goods imported from the US, they would apply in Northern Ireland.

While speaking in the Dail chamber about the impact of US tariffs, Taoiseach Micheal Martin said the agrisector on the island is particularly vulnerable.

“I know that there are also serious concerns, which I share, about how the US tariffs and EU countermeasures could impact Northern Ireland and the all-island economy,” Mr Martin said.

“We are working through these issues and we will continue to be close contact with the Northern Ireland Executive.

“There may be specific issues for the agrifood sector not least due to the integrated supply chains North and South in this industry, and the customs ‘rules of origin’ which define the origin of a product for tariff purposes.

“We learned a lot about this in the Brexit period so understand that supply chains on this island are deeply connected and that any change to current integrated arrangement would require huge investment.”

He said that Agriculture Minister Martin Heydon was looking at the potential impacts on the sector.

“The Windsor Framework does offer some protections,” he said.

“Arrangements are in place that allow Northern Ireland traders to apply to the UK authorities to be reimbursed in respect of EU import duty paid or deferred on goods brought into Northern Ireland and that do not enter the single market.

“But the impact of the new tariffs is wider than any one sector and will potentially impact all goods being exported, North and South, in different ways.

“We are very aware of this and we will continue to highlight the particular situation of Northern Ireland and, more broadly, the all-island economy in all our discussions with interlocutors, including the US and the European Commission.”

Mary Lou McDonald said that protecting the all-island economy needed to be a “high level priority” for both administrations north and south of the border.

She said that the Irish government should work “hand in glove” with the Northern Ireland Executive.

“It’s a serious issue that we now have two different tariff rates on this small island of ours, and potentially two very different responses to those rates and the dynamic that is now unfolding around us.

“So we need to ensure across the island that businesses are supported, primarily with information initially, the Government Trade Forum could play a useful role in that.

“We also have InterTradeIreland, which operates between both administrations, north and south, to ensure that in the first instance, our business sectors which will be concerned about developments, have all the information necessary and then whatever other supports might be needed in the time ahead.

“I’m asking those in government here to work hand in glove and in lockstep with their counterparts in the Executive.

“The first step in this regard would be to convene the North South Ministerial Council without delay, and I’m asking that this be done.”

Sinn Fein finance spokesperson Pearse Doherty asked for the all-island economy to be prioritised and warned against EU countermeasures which he said risked following “Trump down the road of economic self sabotage”.

Sinn Fein Mayo TD Rose Conway Walsh said “if we governed our own affairs, we wouldn’t be facing this discrepancy”.

“We would be facing this hurdle in full strength of our national economy, and not with one hand tied behind our backs,” she said.

“During the Brexit negotiations, we, with our allies in the EU and the US, ensured there was no hard border on the island of Ireland.

“The same diligence must be applied in this scenario in order to protect the prosperity of everyone on the island.”

Taoiseach Micheál Martin with US President Donald Trump during St Patrick's celebrations in Washington last week (Niall Carson/PA)