Northern Ireland Scrutiny Committee concerned for US Tariffs impact on Northern Ireland and operation of Windsor Framework
Tuesday 8 April 2025
The House of Lords Northern Ireland Scrutiny Committee has today (Tuesday 8 April) written to The Rt Hon Rt Hon Hilary Benn MP Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, to express concern about the potential effect of the United States administration’s global reciprocal tariffs on Northern Ireland and on the operation of the Windsor Framework.
To aid the Parliamentary scrutiny of the issue, the committee has asked for the Government’s initial assessment of the effects of the recent developments on Northern Ireland given, at the time of writing, the different tariff rates applied to the UK (10%) and to the European Union (20%).
The committee also asks that the Government provides its initial assessment of the impact on Northern Ireland of a range of possible scenarios including:
- if the EU decides to respond with tariffs of its own on imports from the US and the UK does not;
- if the UK responds with tariffs on US imports but the EU does not;
- if both the EU and the UK respond with tariffs of US imports but a) at different levels or b) with tariffs on different goods.
The letter is available to read in full on the Committee’s website:
The Northern Ireland Scrutiny Committee has requested a response for it to consider when the House returns after the Easter recess.
