Collins calls for a support package for businesses most impacted by tariffs – Government’s response, “muted and overly deferential” to Brussels. 

Collins calls for a support package for businesses most impacted by tariffs – Government’s response, “muted and overly deferential” to Brussels. 

Independent Ireland Leader Michael Collins TD has today echoed growing concerns from business leaders in Cork and beyond following confirmation that a 15 per cent tariff will be imposed on EU exports to the United States – a move he described as “a significant blow” to Irish manufacturers, exporters, and rural communities.

  While the revised rate avoids the previously threatened 30 per cent tariff, Deputy Collins warned that the final agreement “still represents a serious setback for Irish exporters and leaves our economy vulnerable at a time of unprecedented international uncertainty”.

  “Fifteen per cent may be better than thirty,” he said, “but let’s not pretend this is good news. For exporters in sectors like pharma – many of them based in rural Ireland – this is a hammer blow to competitiveness.”

   “The sectors of the Irish economy that will be most heavily impacted by these tariffs must be protected at a national level.  I am calling on the Government to introduce a package of financial supports to ensure businesses in these sectors remain viable.  We cannot allow Irish businesses and workers to pay the price for brinkmanship between global powers.”  

  Deputy Collins, who represents the Cork South-West constituency and leads the Independent Ireland party, said he has spoken to several business leaders in West Cork who are “deeply alarmed” by the deal struck between the European Commission and the United States government at President Trump’s Turnberry resort in Scotland.

  “There is a real and growing fear that once again Ireland is being treated as a pawn – or worse, a guinea pig – in a geopolitical game played far above our heads,” he said.

  “Ireland is not just some side note in EU-US trade. We are a cornerstone of the pharmaceutical supply chain globally. Factories don’t get built overnight and production of vital medicines cannot simply be switched on and off. Like it or not, the world is dependent on pharmaceutical production – and we hold some of the best cards in that deck. It’s time we acted like it.”

  Deputy Collins criticised the Irish Government’s response, calling it “muted and overly deferential” to Brussels.

  “The time has come for our Government to stop cow-towing to the EU or the US and to start standing up for Irish jobs and Irish enterprise,” he said. “This is not the moment for polite diplomacy or shrugging our shoulders. These tariffs will hit Irish SMEs and exporters in towns and villages the length and breadth of the country – many of whom are already struggling under the weight of inflation, energy costs and shifting global supply chains.”

  Deputy Collins called on the Taoiseach and Tánaiste to lead a coordinated diplomatic offensive to protect Irish interests, and explore all available supports for the most affected sectors.

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