Northern Ireland's Economy Minister has said that a "very challenging picture" has emerged across the island of Ireland for businesses following US President Donald Trump's tariff announcement.
Speaking on RTE’s This Week programme, Caoimhe Archibold said the implications for Northern Ireland could be "quite significant".
On Wednesday, President Trump announced a tariff of 20% on goods coming from the European Union. However, goods from the United Kingdom are tariffed at half that rate at 10%.
It means two tariff rates will apply on goods coming from the island of Ireland -10% from Northern Ireland and 20% when you cross the border and export from the Republic.
There are questions over how a product made in Northern Ireland with materials from the Republic is tariffed in the United States.
"We have a very integrated all-island economy and very integrated supply chains, so things do become very complex," Ms Archibold said.
'Cool and calm heads'
She said "cool and calm heads" are needed and a trade war is in nobody’s interests.
Efforts need to be made as soon as possible to de-escalate trade tensions with the United States, the Sinn Féin MLA added.
Northern Ireland businesses could also be hit with higher production costs than the rest of the UK if the EU imposes tariffs on US imports as Northern Ireland will have to pay the EU rate under the terms of the Brexit deal.
She called on the Irish and British government to keep Northern Ireland and its unique trading arrangements under consideration in any next steps including negotiations and counter measures.
"We shouldn’t be knee jerking. We need to protect jobs and economy on this island and that’s what my focus is on," she said.
"Throughout the entire Brexit negotiations we worked collectively, really hard to minimise barriers and this is entirely contrary to that objective," she said.
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