Unionists have demanded the government assert itself over the fact Northern Ireland remains subject to EU control, with one MP saying the Northern Ireland Secretary should be “embarrassed” by it.

It came during a debate on Donald Trump’s tariffs in the House of Commons on Tuesday, during which the government was told it must “extricate Northern Ireland from EU rules” as opposed to just offering to soften their impact.

The issue of the Protocol / Windsor Framework has once more emerged into the spotlight in the past week thanks to Donald Trump’s decision to impose tariffs on goods entering the USA from across the world.

A general rate of 10% applies to goods coming from the UK (including Northern Ireland), and 20% for goods coming from the EU.

placeholder image — TUV MP Jim Allister speaking in the House of Commons during a debate on the Protocol and trade tariffs, 08-04-25

But it is expected that both the EU and UK will respond with tariffs of their own on US goods – and it looks likely that Northern Ireland will be forced to follow what will presumably be a higher rate set by the EU, not the UK’s rate.

In short, that would make it inherently more expensive to import an item into Belfast than to import it to Birkenhead.

This would be a particularly clear example of the Province deviating from the rest of the UK due to the Protocol / Windsor Framework.

According to a report by the Reuters news agency on Tuesday, the EU is considering putting a 25% tariff on a list of US goods including “diamonds, eggs, dental floss, sausages and poultry”.

One mooted solution is for firms in the Province to apply to the government to recoup the difference between the EU and the UK’s tariff rates, if the imported goods stay within Northern Ireland.

Such a mechanism already exists, but critics say it is extremely cumbersome to use.

Sammy Wilson told the Commons that this system has already "failed".

“Businesses have to produce masses of information, and there are delays in payments – some businesses have to wait for hundreds of thousands of pounds to be reimbursed in taxes," he said.

"That is not the answer. Surely, the answer is for the UK to collect the taxes that we impose on American goods and leave the EU to collect the taxes that it imposes?”

The Northern Ireland Secretary Hilary Benn replied: “What the right honourable gentleman proposes ignores the reality that faces Northern Ireland as a result of the UK’s decision to leave the EU, and the fact that there was a problem that had to be solved.

"The duty reimbursement scheme owes its existence to the Windsor framework.

"It is important, as I have said to the House, that the scheme works effectively, but businesses do need to provide information to demonstrate that the goods have not subsequently moved into the European Union, for reasons that I think he understands.”

Fellow DUP MP Carla Lockhart said that “sadly, I have heard nothing today that will give businesses in my constituency any reassurance that the UK Government are prepared to protect them” from the EU’s import tariffs, whilst TUV MP Jim Allister said: “As Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, is the right honourable gentleman not embarrassed that he and his Government have no control over the tariffs in respect of goods imported into Northern Ireland?

"Is the obvious and inevitable answer not to repatriate to the United Kingdom control over trade laws?”

Mr Benn responded that the government must “make sure that we stand with businesses, including in Northern Ireland, to provide them with support, and a mechanism that allows them to reclaim the tariff”.

DUP MP Jim Shannon said Mr Benn had “not given any answers”, and demanded to know “when discussions to extricate Northern Ireland from EU rules will begin”.

Mr Benn said that the government had to hold fast to the Windsor Framework.

"The single most important reason for sticking with the implementation of the Windsor Framework is that we want to negotiate closer economic relationships with the European Union, including a sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) and a veterinary agreement,” he told MPs.

"Things could be a lot easier if we get that agreement, but as I have pointed out to the House many times before, if we do not honour the last agreement that the UK as a country signed under the last Government with the EU, how exactly do we expect to get a new agreement – in particular an SPS and veterinary agreement, which would help many businesses in the movement of goods across the Irish sea?”