SIPTU has called on the Government to act quickly to alleviate the impact of US tariffs on the productive economy and jobs, calling for measures including sectoral taskforces, wage subsidy programmes, supports for companies to diversify into new markets and consideration of shortened working week initiatives.
SIPTU Deputy General Secretary, Greg Ennis, said: “Our approach in Ireland to the shift in US economic policy towards protectionism must be considered but swift. While what we are witnessing is momentous change we must seek to control what we can in terms of the multi-national and domestic enterprise sectors.
“In relation to multinationals there is an urgent need to bring workers, employers and the Government into taskforces on a national and sectoral basis. The voices of workers, through their unions, must be included on the National Trade Forum as it seeks to deal with this man-made crisis. Similarly, sectoral taskforces will allow for responses to be tailor made and targeted for specific industries for the short and medium term. This quickly occurred during the Covid Pandemic and similar swift action is needed now.
“SIPTU believes there is a degree of danger for the pharma industry, if and when it becomes subject to US tariffs. However, there are immediate issues for the medical devices, car component, dairy and alcoholic drinks sectors which we believe will be subject to the current round tariffs. Even more concerning is a slowing down of future investment, either in current plants or greenfield sites.
“We can do more at a State level to protect production and jobs in domestic enterprises. These should include wage subsidy programmes similar to those introduced during the Covid pandemic for companies that experience a considerable fall in turnover due to a reliance on the US market.
“Supports such as grants, interest-free loans and equity-financing are essential for companies seeking to diversify into non-US markets or into new product lines for non-US markets. Even for products that rely heavily on US consumers, such as whiskey, there is much room to develop markets taking into account that people in other countries, such as Canada and Spain, consume as much whiskey as do those in America on a per capita basis.
“In the full likelihood that the current economic crisis brought about by the sharp change in US economic policy will continue for some time, a scheme based upon that operated in Germany of subsidies for shortened working weeks should be considered. All these measures will aim to protect production and jobs while we deal with an erratic US administration.”
He added: “In the longer term, Ireland needs to diversify away from over-reliance on the US market, not only export trading markets but investment as well. An example of the latter is that 80% of all foreign investment in Ireland comes from the US, in the EU overall, less than 20% of foreign investment comes from the US. The establishment of sectoral task-forces and short-term assistance to diversify would be consistent with this long-term goal.”