Will US Tariffs Affect Trade For Northern Ireland

President Trump is possibly the biggest disruptor that the United States have ever had, and he has only been in the job for a couple of months or so! He keeps everybody on their toes and trying to work out whether his latest outburst need to be taken seriously or with a rather large pinch of salt.

His threat of tariffs to all and sundry is seemingly coming to pass, as overnight Trump has imposed 25% tariffs on all steel and aluminium which comes into the US. The EU have retaliated in kind, but the UK government are playing the long game and waiting to respond. So where does this leave Northern Ireland businesses? They are without doubt in for an uncertain time regarding trading with the US.

NI Businesses Remaining Positive

These tariffs are going to hurt the US as much as any country, so it is difficult to see any winner here. Nevertheless it seems that many businesses here in NI are remaining positive about their future trading relationship with them. Here is what managing director Cormac Diamond of Bloc Blinds in Magherafelt said about trading with the US in an article on the BBC News website. He said:

“We have to be cognisant of the challenges of tariffs because in spite of doing our production in Dallas we are still serviced by a supply chain that is affected by tariffs,” he said.

“That said, since we are doing most of the added value within the Dallas plant itself we certainly have reduced exposure to tariffs.

“We’re pretty confident that we are in a secure position regarding tariffs, but tariffs can affect things both directly and indirectly. There may be some unforeseen events that we have not planned for.”

Mr Diamond said he was positive about the future of doing business in the US.

“The size of the market certainly excited us when we decided to embark on the US journey.

“There is a very positive approach to business in the US and you can see it in evidence of buildings, infrastructure, development etcetera.”

“Because it is so uncertain we are almost having to plough ahead regardless and just take that into consideration, when we have a bit more concrete information,” he said.

“It is very much about trying to keep the business going as normal, plan as much as we can for the future but not make anything too concreted because there is that level of uncertainty.”

Whatever Happens Businesses Will Respond

And in the same article Tina McKenzie, who is policy chairperson for the Federation of Small Businesses, also spoke about the challenges of tariffs on goods to the US, saying:

“We are looking now at what is going to happen between the EU and US.

“For our market, the Northern Ireland market, with an open border to the EU, we are quite concerned and we are watching closely what impact any kind of tariffs between the EU and US, and vice versa, would have on the Northern Irish market.

“We are waiting and watching that but we are also here in Washington to make clear that we are in very a unique position in that we are open to the United Kingdom but also without a border to the EU.”

Ms McKenzie added that regardless of what happened, many businesses would be able to respond.

“I think most business people are pragmatic, they look for the opportunity, they are quick to pivot and change and if something comes along they will deal with it.”