90 days not enough time to negotiate deal over tariffs, says CEO of exporters association
Vivienne Clarke
The chief executive of the Irish Exporters Association, Simon McKeever, has warned that 90 days is not sufficient time to negotiate a deal on tariffs, as such negotiations had taken years in the past.
Speaking on RTÉ radio’s News at One, Mr McKeever also pointed out that the 10 per cent tariff remained in place and many companies were still facing increased costs for doing business with the US.
“So the amount is less, but there's still a tariff. Some of those tariffs are compounded, particularly in the agri-food sector, that 10 per cent will sit on top of a tariff that already exists.
"So companies are absolutely still facing price pressure over there. So it's not good, even though it's not 20 per cent, it's 10 per cent, it is still an awful lot.”
Mr McKeever added that there was still uncertainty over whether the pharma sector would be included in future tariffs.
“There's still an awful lot of Irish businesses, 17 per cent of our exports to the United States are manufactured goods, and three percent of them are food and drink, you know, and that is €2-3 billion, and it's about 12 billion in manufactured goods.
“And all those companies are indigenous Irish businesses and some foreign-owned businesses here, but a lot of them are big employers in local areas of the country. They've gone to bed last night, woken up again this morning, still looking at a particular challenge and threat to their business.
“I'd be under no illusion that it was the bond market that drove this decision yesterday. The bond market in the US is considered to be the safest of safe havens.
"And normally when stock markets get sold off, people move into Treasuries, they buy Treasuries, but they actually sold Treasuries yesterday. And that is signifying a complete loss of confidence in the US.
“You hear words like uncertainty, I think people are still extremely uncertain this morning and you know, you need to ask the question ‘would you invest in the USA at the moment?’
“90 days, it's definitely not enough to negotiate a trade deal with any single country. Trade deals take years, there is always complexities in them. So this will have to go on longer.”
