Joe Biden has dangled a $6bn (£5bn) carrot in front of Northern Ireland’s leaders with a promise to boost the country’s economy with US investment if power sharing is restored.
In a thinly veiled message to the Democratic Unionist party, which has been boycotting the devolved government for more than a year, the US president told an audience in Belfast that American investors were ready to “triple” the $2bn already invested.
“The simple truth is that peace and economic opportunity go together,” Biden said.
He reminded representatives of the region’s five biggest parties, who sat at the front of the auditorium, of how transformative the Good Friday agreement had been 25 years ago and urged them to put the past behind them and look at the prosperity that could flow in the next quarter of a century.
In the past 25 years, the gross domestic product of Northern Ireland had doubled, while in “just the past decade” almost $2bn in US investment had gone into the economy, he said.
“I predict to you if things continue to move in the right direction, [it] will more than triple,” he said. “There are scores of major American corporations wanting to come here, wanting to invest.
“It is up to us to keep this going, keep going in the work that has been done every day for the last 25 years.”
The DUP leader, Jeffrey Donaldson, welcomed Biden’s visit but said it “doesn’t change the political dynamic in Northern Ireland”.
He said: “I had a brief conversation with the president, and he made clear that it’s not his job, as we heard in his speech, to take decisions for political leaders in Northern Ireland.
“But the United States stands ready to support Northern Ireland in whatever way it can. So I welcome his visit here today – it’s good to see the president coming and we hope to see investment into Northern Ireland flowing from his efforts and those of his special envoy.”
Speaking at Ulster University in Belfast, Biden – citing the cyber and tech industries, green energy and young entrepreneurs – said the opportunities for Northern Ireland to lift itself into becoming a major part of the UK economy were “incredible”.
He urged political leaders to “sustain the peace”, promising it would “unleash this incredible economic opportunity”.
Biden’s special economic envoy for Northern Ireland, Joe Kennedy III, would be heading a trade delegation to the region “maybe later this year” to “supercharge” a new wave of investment, Biden promised.
He urged the DUP to return to power-sharing arrangements at Stormont and said an “effective devolved government … is going to draw even greater opportunity in this region”.
Kennedy later told reporters that US corporations always sought stability as a prerequisite for investment.
Biden said: “I hope the assembly and the executive will soon be restored.” Cautious not to be seen as interfering, he quickly added: “That is a judgment for you to make, not me, but I hope it happens.”
He told the audience that he was part-English by birth but he swerved commentary over any alleged pro-nationalist bias.
Donaldson was seen beaming while having convivial chats with Kennedy and later on an informal walkabout with Biden.
He said restoration of power sharing would only happen if the prime minister, Rishi Sunak, took steps to remove the remaining Brexit barriers to trade between Northern Ireland and Great Britain.
Sunak missed Biden’s speech in order to visit a senior PSNI officer who was shot in Northern Ireland earlier this year. Sunak is understood to have met DCI John Caldwell and his family at a hospital in the north-west. The PSNI described it as a “private visit” and would not comment.
The party’s chief whip, Sammy Wilson, when asked about Biden’s visit, said his party would “not be bought”.
Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s World at One programme, the MP for East Antrim said: “On one hand, he [Biden] says he’s here to help the peace process and the Good Friday agreement; on the other hand he has done his best to undermine the Good Friday agreement and its institutions, and indeed his backing of the EU against the UK government, trying to force [the] UK government into a corner to accept EU interference in Northern Ireland, has not helped the process and has led to the collapse of the institutions.”
The atmosphere at Ulster University was reverent and jovial, with the president working the room and posing for selfies and handshakes with party leaders after his speech.
Doug Beattie, the head of the Ulster Unionist party, and Colum Eastwood, the leader of the SDLP, said Biden had spoken to them about the economic opportunities in their private conversations, underlining the message from the US.
Time was also set aside for the Northern Irish actor James Martin, who became the first person with Down’s syndrome to have the leading role in an Oscar-winning movie, after starring in the short film An Irish Goodbye.
NEW YORK (AP) — Shares of Tesla soared Wednesday as investors bet that the electric vehicle maker and its CEO Elon Musk will benefit from Donald Trump’s return to the White House.
Tesla stands to make significant gains under a Trump administration with the threat of diminished subsidies for alternative energy and electric vehicles doing the most harm to smaller competitors. Trump’s plans for extensive tariffs on Chinese imports make it less likely that Chinese EVs will be sold in bulk in the U.S. anytime soon.
“Tesla has the scale and scope that is unmatched,” said Wedbush analyst Dan Ives, in a note to investors. “This dynamic could give Musk and Tesla a clear competitive advantage in a non-EV subsidy environment, coupled by likely higher China tariffs that would continue to push away cheaper Chinese EV players.”
Tesla shares jumped 14.8% Wednesday while shares of rival electric vehicle makers tumbled. Nio, based in Shanghai, fell 5.3%. Shares of electric truck maker Rivian dropped 8.3% and Lucid Group fell 5.3%.
Tesla dominates sales of electric vehicles in the U.S, with 48.9% in market share through the middle of 2024, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
Subsidies for clean energy are part of the Inflation Reduction Act, signed into law by President Joe Biden in 2022. It included tax credits for manufacturing, along with tax credits for consumers of electric vehicles.
Musk was one of Trump’s biggest donors, spending at least $119 million mobilizing Trump’s supporters to back the Republican nominee. He also pledged to give away $1 million a day to voters signing a petition for his political action committee.
In some ways, it has been a rocky year for Tesla, with sales and profit declining through the first half of the year. Profit did rise 17.3% in the third quarter.
The U.S. opened an investigation into the company’s “Full Self-Driving” system after reports of crashes in low-visibility conditions, including one that killed a pedestrian. The investigation covers roughly 2.4 million Teslas from the 2016 through 2024 model years.
And investors sent company shares tumbling last month after Tesla unveiled its long-awaited robotaxi at a Hollywood studio Thursday night, seeing not much progress at Tesla on autonomous vehicles while other companies have been making notable progress.
TORONTO – Canada’s main stock index was up more than 100 points in late-morning trading, helped by strength in base metal and utility stocks, while U.S. stock markets were mixed.
The S&P/TSX composite index was up 103.40 points at 24,542.48.
In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 192.31 points at 42,932.73. The S&P 500 index was up 7.14 points at 5,822.40, while the Nasdaq composite was down 9.03 points at 18,306.56.
The Canadian dollar traded for 72.61 cents US compared with 72.44 cents US on Tuesday.
The November crude oil contract was down 71 cents at US$69.87 per barrel and the November natural gas contract was down eight cents at US$2.42 per mmBTU.
The December gold contract was up US$7.20 at US$2,686.10 an ounce and the December copper contract was up a penny at US$4.35 a pound.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 16, 2024.
TORONTO – Canada’s main stock index was up more than 200 points in late-morning trading, while U.S. stock markets were also headed higher.
The S&P/TSX composite index was up 205.86 points at 24,508.12.
In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 336.62 points at 42,790.74. The S&P 500 index was up 34.19 points at 5,814.24, while the Nasdaq composite was up 60.27 points at 18.342.32.
The Canadian dollar traded for 72.61 cents US compared with 72.71 cents US on Thursday.
The November crude oil contract was down 15 cents at US$75.70 per barrel and the November natural gas contract was down two cents at US$2.65 per mmBTU.
The December gold contract was down US$29.60 at US$2,668.90 an ounce and the December copper contract was up four cents at US$4.47 a pound.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 11, 2024.
