A comprehensive trade and investment agreement between the EU and the US could lead to a 1.1% increase in Irish GDP, a study by Copenhagen Economics has found.
The findings were published to coincide with a major conference on the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) convened in Dublin last Friday by the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Richard Bruton TD.
The study found that a trade agreement between the world’s largest economy and the the world's largest trading bloc would benefit key economic sectors in Ireland (including life sciences, ICT and manufacturing).
Exports would also be strengthened due to tariff reductions and non-tariff barriers that could see exports grow by 2.7%. SMEs would reap the benefits of such a deal, as would workers whose real wages could increase by 1.4%.
“Our focus must be on increased trade and exports,” said Minister Bruton. “In particular, huge potential is offered by the EU-US trade agreement currently in negotiation.
“Ireland has particularly strong economic links with the US, with over 100,000 people employed in 500 US companies here, and Irish companies exporting over €1billion in goods and services to the US every year. We knew at the time of the Presidency last year when the EU mandate was secured that Ireland stood to benefit disproportionately if an agreement was secured. The findings by Copenhagen Economics show that the benefit to Ireland would be more than double the EU average.
“This would mean the creation of approximately 8,000 extra jobs across the country. Benefits would accrue particularly to big employer sectors including life sciences, ICT, food and manufacturing, and SMEs and consumers would also benefit.”
© 2014 - Checkout Magazine by Conor William O’Brien
