Trump will not be ‘meteor’ blow to Irish economy, says employers’ group
Trump will not be ‘meteor’ blow to Irish economy, says employers’ group
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Businesses should avoid panic amid fears US will attempt to repatriate jobs and taxes, says Danny McCoy. Donald Trump will not be a knockout “meteor” to Ireland’s economy despite its heavy reliance on US multinationals, the head of the country’s business trade organisation has said.
While the US president told world leaders gathered at Davos last week that “Europe treats us very, very unfairly” there is a heightened sense of nervousness in Ireland that this could translate to attempt to repatriate jobs and taxes from the 950 US companies there.
The fears have been added to by the well publicised views of the president’s nominee as commerce secretary, Howard Lutnick, who said last year it was “a nonsense that Ireland of all places runs a trade surplus” at the expense of the US. However, Danny McCoy, the chief executive of the Irish Business and Employers Confederation, said the near panic in some circles was unwarranted. “People are saying that what Trump is proposing means we are going to lose our business model. I just don’t believe that at all. I do not share the idea that one thing is going to knock out the economy like a meteor,” McCoy added.
One of the sectors viewed as particularly vulnerable to Trump is the pharmaceutical industry, with big players such as Pfizer manufacturing drugs in Ireland and exporting them back to the US while booking profits in Ireland. McCoy argued such fears were premature, given Trump’s inconsistent comments, which meant it was unclear exactly what his position on tax and repatriating US jobs would be.
