Responding to the announcement of 20% tariffs on all EU goods entering the US, Irish Congress of Trade Unions general secretary, Owen Reidy said:
“These tariffs are incredibly severe and clearly unwarranted, but unsurprising as they have been well flagged by the Trump administration.
“What is clear is the world has changed and regrettably the US, for the time being, cannot be considered a reliable trading partner. Ireland and Europe need to act collectively and develop a coherent strategy to remove these tariffs through negotiation.
“If negotiations are unsuccessful, we must respond to this unprovoked hostility and stand in solidarity with our European partners and friends.
“As a trade union movement, we are very concerned about the impact on jobs and investment. We are also concerned about Ireland's fiscal position and the knock-on risks for the state's capacity deal with the challenge of a growing and aging population and building the public services required.
“It is crucial that we introduce appropriate schemes, such as an adequate short-time work scheme, to protect jobs, workers’ incomes and skills in vulnerable but viable businesses. The new Pay-Related Jobseekers’ Benefit is welcome, but will not be enough to protect certain groups of workers in certain sectors and local economies.
“Government needs to set up several sectoral industry taskforces with union and employer representation along with industry expertise and the relevant state agencies not only to manage this disruption but also to build a more sustainable future for these industries.
“Now is the time to once and for all diversify and reorientate our economic model to a new one, built on good jobs, a productive economy, economic security and economic stability. We can no longer have our economy disproportionately exposed to the actions of any one country or sector.
“We look forward to engaging with government through the LEEF process on all of this tomorrow morning.”
