Partial tariff pause must be first step to complete removal – Pearse Doherty TD
10 April 2025
Sinn Féin spokesperson on Finance, Pearse Doherty TD, has said that President Trump’s decision to back down and implement a partial pause is a step in the right direction but that far more progress is needed.
Teachta Doherty said:
“Ireland is uniquely exposed, so any de-escalation is a positive development. We also need to recognise that this is only going to halve the unjustified 20% tariff that was levelled at this state and the wider EU. 25% tariffs on aluminium and steel and car manufactures also remain in place globally.
“Ireland is still facing a 10% tariff today that didn’t exist before. This is unfair and unjustified. It continues to represent an act of trade aggression without any clear objective. This puts Irish industries and companies based in Ireland at a disadvantage exporting into the US market.
“We have seen that there are limits even on the US’s ability to bully the world into making concessions to them. We now need to continue to work to get the remaining tariffs removed and any genuine trade issues resolved.
“Irish people are genuinely concerned about what all this talk of tariffs will mean for them. How it will impact their lives. Too many people in this state are already being ground down by the relentless cost of living crisis. People are worried about what this will mean for jobs.
“The best way to assure people is to take our economic competitiveness back into our own hands and finally get a grip on the crises facing this country. Tariffs can not be an excuse for the government to drop election promises.
“There is an overlap between what people need and what our economy needs. That is an ambitious investment strategy in public services and infrastructure.
“We have to hope that ordinary Americans will realise that the problems they face are not caused by unfairness in international trade. The money isn’t flowing out, it’s flowing up. Wealth is being concentrated in fewer and fewer hands.
“If President Trump was really interested in finding the problem ordinary Americans face, he would look at billionaires and the ultra-wealthy; many of whom profited massively from market turmoil in the last few days.”
