Minister for Enterprise, Tourism and Employment Peter Burke said he hopes to bring a memo to Cabinet next week that will set out bringing forward the Government’s competitive action plan.
Minister Burke said he will also be setting out “15 clear wins” or measures that the Government can take in the short term.
He said this will send a “really strong signal to business” that Ireland is going to retain the most competitive economy in Europe.
The minister said he hoped the competitive action plan could be published before the summer.
“There is no doubt we do face a challenge because if you’re an exporter and you have a 10% tariff and if your margin is seven or 8%, well that leaves you in a massive challenge,” he said.
“We’ve established a unit in Enterprise Ireland now working with all our exporters. We’ve had 300 meetings in the last week trying to ensure that they’re getting support through market diversification, also enhancing productivity.
“We’re trying to ensure that if you’re exporting to the US, a lot of product is high quality, it’s a premium product so we’re trying to hive out more innovation and efficiency so they can retain the most of that market, even under a 10% tariff.”
However, the minister acknowledged it still remains challenging.
“Anytime when you have a tariff, irrespective of the amount, it really puts pressure on competition and competitiveness.”
The minister said a “cool, calm and measured” response is what is needed as negotiations take place between the EU and the US on US President Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Minister Burke said the secondary consequences of the tariffs also need to be looked because there’s a “huge amount of Chinese inventory that’s now been re-directed into markets that Ireland is competing for, into Canada, into Mexico, and indeed it may end up in the European market”.
“So, Europe needs to be very cautious and look at its anti-dumping measures in relation to it, because that could be very significant, because some of that product is very highly subsidised by China,” he said.
