Enterprise Ireland urges Irish companies exporting to US to dedicated task force
Vivienne Clarke
The interim chief executive of Enterprise Ireland, Kevin Sherry, is urging Irish companies that export to the US to the dedicated response team to avail of s.
Speaking on RTÉ radio’s Morning Ireland, Mr Sherry said that companies were looking for up-to-date information and wanted to know what specific actions they can take.
They also wanted to understand the tariffs, how they were going to apply to them, and what s are available.
“So for Enterprise Ireland, we've established a dedicated response team. We've been in with all of those companies, providing them with up-to-date information and advice, information on the s that they can avail of, and the actions that very importantly that they take, so the things that are in their control that they can take to respond to the current situation," he said.
“If you're an engineering company and you're exporting into the US, from today your product will be subject to a 20 percent tariff. Actually, it's a little bit more complicated than that because, if you're that engineering company and you're also sourcing steel or aluminium from the US, the steel and aluminium that you're sourcing from the US will be subject to a tariff of 25 percent.
"So it's really important for companies, one of the pieces of advice that we're giving them is that they really understand their own supply chain and map their supply chain and understand what implications this has for their products.
“At the moment one of the things we're saying to companies is they really need to engage and proactively engage and talk to their customers and distributors and that is a topic of conversation about pricing.
“Obviously it’s also very important for companies to look at and understand what the and conditions associated with their contracts are because sometimes the contracts can contain which will result in those tariffs being ed on, but that is a conversation by individual companies with their customers in the US.”
Mr Sherry explained that the offered by Enterprise Ireland included information on tariffs and how they will be applied, understanding their supply chain along with assistance in retaining external expertise where necessary.
“Very importantly, these companies are not only exporting to the US, many companies are also exporting to many other countries. In fact, if you look at the total export of Enterprise Ireland clients, 17 percent of their exports go to the US, so it is a very important market, but 83 percent of exports go to other markets outside of the US and it's really important for those companies to continue to build and grow the markets, not just in the US but outside.
"We can provide to those companies through our team overseas, we have 190 people overseas who are working with those companies and ing them in those markets.”
Mr Sherry added that there were grants available for external advice and there was also funding available for companies that want to assess and access new markets.
“I think one of the things at the moment that companies are looking at and we're encouraging them to look at is their whole area of competitiveness and their cost base and their available for companies looking at that and maybe implementing digital processes.
"And also, very importantly, an increased focus on research and development because most Irish companies are competing in winning business internationally based on having a competitive advantage by virtue of their technology.
"And we need to really confirm that Irish companies are winning business against international competition every day of the week, so they shouldn't be concerned about facing international competition.”
It was too early to say what job losses there might be as a result of the US tariffs, he said.
“Our advice to companies and what companies are doing is focus on the things that they can control, focus on actions that they can take and Enterprise Ireland is there working with them to them in taking those actions.”
