Over the last 10 days or so, I have attended a number of events with a US dimension. The difference between the agricultural and business perspectives is striking.

The agricultural discussions, as we heard from Ted McKinney, USDA under secretary for trade and foreign agricultural affairs at the recent ASA conference, centre around the EU aversion to GM and hormones in beef and pork production. Inevitably there is a warning that if there is to be a trade deal between the EU and US, then food and agriculture will be centre stage and will have to form part of the deal.

When you see how the Canadian quota-governed dairy industry is being targeted, it’s clear President Trump and the US are serious. There had been rumours that Irish butter and cheese were next in line for tariff increases but so far there has been no extra penalties imposed. However, at a special Irish EU business event in the US embassy, the mood music could not have been more different.

Ireland is clearly where corporate America feels closest to home when in Europe. The chief economist in the White House, Kevin Hassett, waxed lyrical about the trail blazed by Irish policy-makers in having a competitive corporate tax rate and pointed out that the rest of the world, including the US, was belatedly following.

As well as the tax rate and a good education system, political access was pointed out as a real bonus point – seeing as An Taoiseach Leo Varadkar opened the event, the point was easily absorbed.

We are all conscious of the massive American presence in Ireland, whether it’s the tech companies in Dublin, pharmaceuticals in Cork, medical devices in Galway and so on – altogether about 150,000 direct jobs. But Irish companies employ over 100,000 in the US – think of Cement Roadstone, Glanbia and Kerry.

Primarily, the Americans see us as the natural gateway to Europe and the point was repeatedly made that Brexit is reinforcing Ireland’s position as a dependable European stepping stone. It’s clear that many UK companies are also taking precautionary steps and setting up bases in Ireland.

Recently, a new Irish party has been formed to leave the EU. It’s clear that if we followed Britain out, our agricultural core would have enormous problems, but so would our industrial sector. The logic of such a proposed move totally escapes me.

We have enough national challenges in trying to cope with the new worldwide uncertainties. To throw a totally disruptive stone into the pool strikes me as bizarre.

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Interview with Ted Mc Kinney, Under Secretary USDA