Tariff wars a direct threat to Mayo’s economy

MAYO Aontú TD Paul Lawless has warned that the government is failing to take action to protect Mayo’s economy from the growing threat of US trade tariffs, particularly in the pharmaceutical sector, which is critical to the county.

Ireland’s economy, he said, is 'sitting on a fault line while the government waits for others to fight our corner'.

"Ireland is the most exposed country in the EU to a US tariff war," said Deputy Lawless. "We exported €72 billion worth of goods to the US last year, with €58 billion coming from the pharmaceutical industry.

“This is not just an abstract economic issue, this is about real jobs in Mayo.”

He added: “AbbVie alone employs approximately 1,300 people in Westport, producing pharmaceuticals and is the sole global manufacturing site for Botox. If US trade policy turns against us, what will happen to these jobs? What is the government doing to safeguard them?

“We want these big Irish employers to export Botox, but the government’s response has all the wrinkles.”

Deputy Lawless criticised the government’s approach, arguing that Ireland has no real influence over trade negotiations through the EU. "We saw this with the retaliatory tariffs on bourbon, the EU acted in the interests of Germany, France and Italy, while Ireland’s whiskey industry was left in the firing line. The same could happen again, and this government has done nothing to safeguard our economic interests."

While Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) has brought massive benefits to Mayo, Deputy Lawless stressed that the government has ignored local businesses and SMEs.

“Foreign investment gave us a leg up, but the government forgot to strengthen it’s own backbone,” Lawless said. Our strategy cannot be to keep waiting for other countries to rescue us. We’ve got to stop acting like grateful tenants and start thinking like owners of our own economy.

“We need the government to take initiative and negotiate with the Americans to avoid tariffs that directly affect Ireland and we need to lobby the EU to take a great stand when we are the bullseye in the EU dartboard.

"Successive governments have put all their eggs in the FDI basket while our town centres in Mayo have been left derelict and businesses struggle to survive. High rates, crippling insurance costs and government inaction are pushing local businesses to the brink."

Deputy Lawless demanded urgent action to safeguard Mayo’s jobs, secure Ireland’s place in global trade, and support local businesses.

"Aontú has been clear: we need to cut commercial rates for small businesses and prioritise indigenous industry alongside FDI. There’s also over €40 million Irish Americans and we need to capitalise on their value to the American government.

“We should be fostering this and it gives us a unique relationship to the States over other EU countries.”