LONDON- At a time when Britain is the least loser among the Western allies of the United States of the tariff war imposed by US President Donald Trump on the countries of the world without the percentage of those taxes exceeding 10%, Northern Ireland does not fear Trump’s fees but is awaiting the nature of the European response to American protectionist policies.
It seems that the future of the economic situation in this British province is commenting on Raja that the European Union does not choose to treat American goods similarly and imposes on customs taxes by 20%, which puts Northern Ireland, which has at the same time, commercial links to the European market and Britain and historical relations in the United States in a difficult and unprecedented situation.
Difficult business limits
According to the post -Britain’s commercial arrangement from the European Union in what is known as the “Windsor” framework, the coming commodities must abide by the northern Ireland with the rules of the European Union, which means that any decision to respond similarly by the European bloc on Trump customs duties will mean that the American goods that will enter Northern Ireland will face customs tariffs.
On the other hand, the American goods that enter other regions in the United Kingdom will not pay any fees, which will result in raising the economic cost of any American goods consumed by citizens in Northern Ireland compared to the rest of the British regions.
The European and British negotiators managed to sign two years ago on the “Windsor frame” to resolve the dispute over the solid borders between Britain and the island of Ireland, and to maintain the special situation of Northern Ireland as a British province and also as a member of the European joint market, in an effort to maintain the fragile peace on the island of Ireland between the units and the Republic On the “Great Friday” agreement, sponsored by American in 1999.
But the Windsor framework may make Northern Ireland an attractive point for manufacturers, who will be able, under the rules of the agreement, to reach the British and European markets without paying customs duties, while their exporting goods are subject to the United States only to 10% unlike other European countries.
Confusing
British Prime Minister Kiir Starmer said that the government is awaiting “care” of the nature of the European response to the customs definitions imposed by Trump, and will work to coordinate with the Union on its potential reflection on Northern Ireland.
On the other hand, the confusion on the impact of the markets in Northern Ireland, the leader of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), prompted Javin Robinson to remind the government of the Labor Party in front of Parliament of the reservations of the units on the situation of Northern Ireland after the Kingdom’s exit from the European Union, warning that the Irish mortgaged a decision taken by Brussels while they are subject to British sovereignty.
The confusing situation of Northern Ireland in its relationship to customs duties restores the controversy over the concessions that Britain accepted regarding the situation in Northern Ireland in the framework of the Brexit Agreement, which sparked sharp differences between the British government and the Unionist Party in Northern Ireland, amounted to his refusal to participate in the government over two years, before agreeing to enter the government formation last year.
On the other hand, Finance Minister Kawimi Archibald in the regional government in Northern Ireland warned of the uncertainty that ravages the markets due to the inability of manufacturers and investors to resolve the nature of the damage or economic benefit resulting from the new protectionist policies and its reflection on Northern Ireland.
Northern Ireland exports to the United States every year is about 1.5 billion pounds (about 1.93 billion dollars), most of which include drugs and industrial machinery sectors, while Northern Ireland imports about 750 million pounds annually (about 966 million dollars) of US goods, and you may need to pay additional burdens if the European Union chose to impose counter -fees on American goods.
On the difficult borders of Northern Ireland with the Republic of Ireland, the latter appears to be the most affected by the new customs duties, as the country depends on the United States as a basic export market, and is directed approximately a third of its total exports to the United States worth 61 billion pounds (about 78.6 billion dollars).
European coordination
While the European response to the American protectionist policies is still without clear features, while the central government in London adopts a softer approach with the American administration, the voices of politicians in Northern Ireland are rising, calling on both Europeans and British to take the special situation of Ireland in mind, and coordinate the response to Trump’s customs duties to alleviate its repercussions on the British boycott economy.
In this context, Matthias Bouwir, director of the European Institute for Political Economy (ECIPE) stressed in an interview with Al -Jazeera Net, that the “Windsor” framework that regulates the trade exchanges of Northern Ireland with the European Union, is able to absorb the commercial shock as long as it was designed for that purpose in the first place, without excluding that the complexity of the situation in Northern Ireland stimulates the differences in more than one direction between both political opponents at home Britain’s relationship with its European neighbors.
The economist suggested that the adoption of the US Department of Protection Policies may push the British and the Europeans to rapprochement, a task that the British Prime Minister is trying to complete – despite his pragmatic and muddy approach to the US administration – with the aim of pumping new blood in his country’s relationship with the European Union in light of the challenges imposed by Trump’s arrival to power in the United States.
On the other hand, he believes that Europeans and British should work to exploit the international confusion to catch the leadership of the global economy and form the global trade agenda, instead of defending the current situation, or searching for ways to take revenge on the new American administration.
A rift that is not raised
But David Heng, a member of the British Committee for Trade and Business, doubts – in an interview with Al -Jazeera Net – the hardness of the bonds of trust that binds the European bloc to Britain after its difficult separation from the union and its insistence on preferring its own relations with the United States over any European rapprochement, warning that the economic situation in Northern Ireland may be a victim of the suspicion and suspicion that prints this relationship.
The British economist explained that both Britain and the European Union despite their different approaches to deal with Trump’s protectionist policies, but they are observing with concern its repercussions on the fragile economic and political situation in Northern Ireland, but without being able to develop a joint plan to confront them in a uniform, stressing that these divisions prefer by the American administration to conclude deals through which it is separated in each European country separately.
