Northern Ireland Protocol: Sammy Wilson rounds on ‘full implementers’ for imperilling ‘thousands of jobs’ via 25% tax on British steel

Sammy Wilson has criticised advocates of the Northern Ireland Protocol over their stances on the cost-of-living, as the EU hits the Province with a huge new tax on steel.

The DUP MP said that those pushing for “full implementation” of the de facto Irish Sea border are “slapping people in the face” at a time of rising prices by imperilling “thousands” of jobs.

His comments come after it was revealed by the Financial Times that imports of certain shipments of steel into Northern Ireland from Great Britain will now be subject to a 25% tariff.

This is because there is a quota for how much steel the EU will accept from non-EU countries, and this quota was recently filled up.

As a result, any further imports entering EU territory – including Northern Ireland – will face the new 25% tax.

Mr Wilson said: “It once again shows how deep the Protocol bits into Northern Ireland, and how it affects firms so badly.

“It’s one of the reasons why when you get people like the Alliance Party, the SDLP, and Sinn Fein calling for the ‘full implementation’ of the Protocol, they really are slapping people in the face in terms of their jobs – because this will put jobs at risk, thousands of jobs.

“And yet you’ve got political parties in Northern Ireland saying: ‘Get on with it.’

“I know Sinn Fein don’t want the place to work, and would be quite happy to have 60% unemployment just to make their point.

“The Alliance and SDLP claim they want to make Northern Ireland work. And yet they’re encouraging the government and EU and Irish government to get on with implementing the Protocol.”

He gave two examples of the effect such tariffs might have.

Firstly, he cited the example of Fermanagh firm Severfield (formerly Fisher Steel).

It had a major role in building The Shard in London – the tallest building in western Europe – as well as helping to construct Belfast’s Odyssey Arena and Titanic centre.

He also said that a sizable percentage of the world’s stone-grinding quarry machines are built in Tyrone.

In both cases, he said, steel has to be imported into the Province, then fashioned into finished products to fulfil those contracts.

“Now you imagine there’s a 25% tax on that steel,” said Mr Wilson.

“We’re immediately 25% more in cost than a company in England that might apply for a contract. This has huge implications for the engineering industry, and for the construction industry.”

GOVT DEPARTMENTS PASS THE BUCK OVER ‘BEYOND FARCICAL’ TARIFF:

The News Letter sought to find out more details from the government about exactly which products are affected by the steel tariff.

HMRC said that such a query should be directed to the Foreign Office (headed up by Liz Truss).

The Foreign Office in turn passed the query to The Department for International Trade.

And the Department for International Trade referred the News Letter... to HMRC.

But according to a letter sent out to businesses on Wednesday by HMRC, seen by the News Letter, the type of steel affected for the time being appears to be something called “Category 17”.

Finding out what exactly this covers has been difficult, though a website called SteelOrbis says this category involves “angles and sections”.

Director of the lobby group UK Steel, Gareth Stace, issued a statement to the News Letter saying that “certain construction steels” are affected.

He said: “It is beyond farcical that UK producers are now prevented by these tariffs from selling goods to customers in their own country.

“It is essential that the Government acts immediately to suspend these tariffs and gets round the table with the EU to implement a lasting and workable solution.”

And tonight Jim Allister re-iterated that all this shows “either the Protocol goes, or our place in the UK goes”.