'At least we know what we're dealing with', says McGuinness on Trump's tariffs
Vivenne Clarke
Former EU commissioner Mairead McGuinness said, "At least we know what we're dealing with," in response to Donald Trump's EU tariffs.
The US president announced on Wednesday that he was imposing a sweeping 20 per cent tariff on imports from the EU, which will significantly impact Ireland.
Speaking on RTÉ Morning Ireland on Thursday morning, Ms McGuinness said: "We know more today than we knew yesterday, but I think there is still more to come in this discussion.
@breakingnews.ie Tánaiste Simon Harris has given his initial response to Donald Trump's tariffs. The US president announced a minimum baseline tariff of 10% on imports from all countries, with additional higher rates for some regions – including a 20% tax on goods from Ireland and the rest of the EU. For all the latest, visit breakingnews.ie
"I didn't watch all of the preamble by President Trump, and I think in an era where everybody's using words, we should be very careful about how we use words, because they have become, in my view, debased, and that's why, again, Europe will be very clear and very measured.
“We have very strong leadership from President von der Leyen. We know that the Irish government, the Tánaiste, Simon Harris, Taoiseach, Micheál Martin, and all of the ministers are engaging with their counterparts. Maroš Šefčovič knows Ireland, he was involved in Brexit, and I know him very well.
"We all know each other and we have a common goal, one, to protect Europe and not to allow this to weaken our industries, our economies, our societies. Secondly, to try and impress globally that this is in no one's interest, the idea of a trade war.
“We are in a different world, but the order has been upended But we are capable of dealing with this. Notwithstanding the worry, you just have to be calm and measured in the worst of times, and these are difficult times.”
“I think the EU is already using the time we have, both past and in the future, to avert anything that escalates to a global trade war.
“This is a time for Europe. to realise the new world order and to strengthen ourselves so that we can face into this.
"I think that's what we're likely to hear later on from the European Commission. But we don't come to this from a vulnerable position. We are strong and we have to actually believe that and work towards resolving this hopefully through negotiation.”
Meanwhile, Danny McCoy of Ibec warned that Trump’s tariffs could have implications for the Windsor Framework.
“I think that one thing we have to really see, though, is the fact that the UK have a 10 percent tariff and the EU 20 percent. This has implications for the Windsor Framework and for the no border on the island of Ireland,” he told RTÉ radio’s Morning Ireland.
“I think this is a very serious issue. And it's not just what Trump has done, it's how we retaliate. If the UK do nothing and the EU comes with a 20 per cent tariff, that'll make it even more complicated.”
When asked what he wanted the government to do in response to the tariffs, Mr McCoy said: “We've been here before with Covid and with Brexit and so some of the measures that we know is state supports are going to be required for those whose demand will go down quite dramatically as a result of these price movements.
“Their workers may need to go on short-time working, we need to have the welfare payments to keep them attached to their employer, not to put them into unemployment.
So these kinds of shocks that we get, we thought we might get with Brexit, with ports being closed, etc. We have the arsenal to do it, we'll be talking to the government in the next couple of hours and again tomorrow on many of those different forums. So I think the government and business can work through this, I'd be calm enough on that front.”
