Mullingar Chamber chief: 'Too early to tell' regarding tariffs

This week the government is set to meet to discuss the introduction of the 15% import tariff on most EU goods being exported to the US.

Last week US President Donald Trump imposed steep tariffs on exports from dozens of trading partners including Canada, Brazil, India and Taiwan, pressing ahead with his plans to reorder the global economy, after the EU negotiators secured the deal that was half the threatened 30% rate.

The US-EU tariff agreement announced the previous week saw permanent tariffs of 15% on many Irish exports to the United States. The increased costs will hit many of Ireland’s exports to America, particularly the agri-food and beverage sectors.

Ireland is considered among the most export-dependent economies in the European Union. As such we could stand to lose more than other member states under the terms of the new deal.

James Bourke, the recently re-elected president of Mullingar Chamber, said local exporters are still in the wait-and-see phase: “There’s been a huge amount of commentary whether this has been a good deal or a bad deal, on whether Ursula von der Leyen or Donald Trump got the upper hand. Personally, I think it’s a bit too early to tell,” he told the Examiner.

Mr Bourke said that it’s a global decision with a local impact: “We have a lot of businesses here in County Westmeath, within the Mullingar area and particularly in the north of Westmeath, involved in manufacturing.

“I think these tariffs could have a huge impact on their operations. This isn’t Trump in the Rose Garden, we’re talking about real businesses and real jobs on the line.”

The Mullingar Chamber president said the repercussions can be likened to the commercial implications of the UK exit from the EU: “The government did a huge amount of work here around the time of Brexit, they put a support plan in place for businesses. They had a budget specifically ring-fenced to support businesses who had to tackle the challenges of Brexit.

“They made information available and set up a helpline. I think these sort of things need to be done again to offer a bit of certainty for local businesses.”

Mr Bourke said having the deal concluded was an important step: “Tariffs aren’t good for anybody. It’s going to impact everyone on the street and in businesses. There’s been a seriously negative impact because of the ongoing uncertainty we’ve had since Trump had his ‘game show’ style unveiling of tariffs in his Rose Garden and on the White House lawn.”

While details of the deal between the EU and the US are yet to be finalised, the overall shape of the trading conditions are in place. The chamber president welcomed that: “For any business to thrive, you need stability and you need confidence. These looming tariffs hanging over everybody wasn’t doing anyone any good. Hopefully this deal can bring back a bit of certainty.

“When we get dates and the exact amounts tidied up for everybody, we can just get on with it.

“It’s been said by senior ministers in the last few days that we won’t really know until we get the details, but it’s important that there’s no waiting period.”

A key concern is making business support available to companies who are reliant on US trade: “The information needs to be readily accessible and easy for business to find out the exact details of how it’s going to affect them and what the impacts are going to be in the medium and long term as well.”

Mr Bourke said the businesses representative organisation will play their part in the coming months: “The chamber will be liaising with members in the coming weeks about support that is available.

“We’re lucky that we have a good working relationship with Chambers Ireland. They are in day-to-day contact with the government on this issue and several other issues that are impacting businesses. Obviously we’re moving in now to the pre-budget rush as well.”

“It’ll be important to make sure everyone gets their voice heard. We have a very good lobbying group with Chambers Ireland and also among our chamber, we’ll be making its own pre-budget submission to the government also,” he concluded.