Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I will begin where the Deputy began on trade, tariffs and the all-island all-Ireland economy. This morning, I spoke to the Deputy's colleague, my counterpart, the Minister for the Economy in the Northern Ireland Executive, Dr. Caoimhe Archibald. I thank her for ongoing engagement with me and for the way she is going about her business. We have agreed to meet by way of video conference either tomorrow or Monday once we have clarity on what is in the UK-US agreement. I use that word loosely because, quite frankly, we do not know at this stage if it is a full agreement. I have heard speculation that it is the heads of an agreement or a framework. It is important that we see what comes from that later today.

In all my engagements with the British Government, including when I met the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland 11 days ago, and in all my engagements at the European level, I am very clear that the unique position of this island and the north of this island needs to be factored into all discussions at EU level and with the US and in our ongoing discussions with the British Government. Of course, we can all point to the Windsor Framework and different mechanisms but to do so is to miss the point. Tariffs are not a good idea, full stop. The trade that happens across this island, between these islands and between this island and the US matters. I am absolutely committed to working in good faith with the Minister, Dr. Archibald, and with the Northern Ireland Executive. I know the Minister is also committed to doing so.

A number of things are going to happen this afternoon. The EU's response or next steps must be seen through the prism of four measures. The first and most important to note is that the European Union, of which Ireland is a proud member, wants to negotiate. We do not want to be in a tit-for-tat tariff war. I agree with the Deputy on that. Tariffs are bad for everybody. There are no winners in a tariff war. I therefore believe the EU is right to have intensified its engagement with the United States in recent days and in the proposals we are making to find a way forward. The Deputy's question is a fair one: do we have interlocutors who are willing to do a deal? We have to keep working on that. We have to support the work of Maroš Šefčovič, the EU's Commissioner for trade, who is doing a very good job in this area. That is step one. We must reach out with proposals, engage in good faith, try to get an agreement and use the 90-day pause.

The second measure is countermeasures. I take the point that tariffs are not good for anyone. I get that. That is absolutely true. However, from a negotiating point of view, we do have to negotiate from a position of strength. Irish people get that. We cannot go into talks with our hands swinging and asking nicely for a deal. We have to say that we want a deal and want zero tariffs for zero tariffs but that the European Union is a market of 460 million people and will look at responding in other areas if we have to. It is important to say a couple of things about the list of countermeasures that will be published today. The first is that it is going to be a very long list. The second is that none of this will come in anytime soon. It will go out for public consultation until at least 10 June. Even when that public consultation closes, the Commission will need to do more work before it even reaches a decision-making mechanism within the European Union. We need to apply the "cool heads" the Deputy mentioned to our response to the countermeasures. Ultimately, I want to see the countermeasures list ripped up and never coming into effect because we have reached an agreement. The third measure the European Union should consider and that I expect it will is to take a dispute to the WTO. The United States is not in compliance with World Trade Organization rules. Rules matter and membership of the WTO matters. The fourth measure we have to take at European level is to continue to watch for what is often called "dumping", which is the idea that lots of extra goods may come to our markets from other parts of the world because of actions taken by the US.

I expect the EU to also monitor this very closely. Those are the four areas where we are likely to see monitoring.

I would like to offer Opposition parties a further briefing with the Government next week. We should continue to work hand in glove on this. I will also attend the meeting of EU trade Ministers in Brussels next Thursday.

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