AUGUSTA, Maine – Mainers share more than a love of beer with Ireland.
The development of a proposed Maine bilateral trade commission with the Island of Ireland – Northern Ireland and Republic of Ireland – would expand economic and educational opportunities for Mainers, according to Maine Sen. Trey Stewart, R-Aroostook.
Stewart introduced legislation for LD 2164 in January for the creation of a Maine Ireland Trade Commission and in a public hearing with the Committee on Innovation, Development, Economic Advancement and Business on Tuesday, the senate minority leader said the bipartisan commission would work to advance bilateral trade and investment between Maine and Ireland.
“It would promote business and academic exchanges, encourage mutual economic support and encourage mutual investment,” he said.
Maine maintains a strong Irish heritage with nearly 16 percent of Mainers being of Irish descent, including Stewart. And Irish immigrants play a significant role in Maine’s history. This commission presents a tremendous opportunity to foster international economic development, he said.
“I live up in the County and we benefit from a preexisting commission very similar to this one with Canada, the Maine Canadian Trade Commission,” Steward said.
With that agreement, bilateral agricultural trade between the two was $375 million in 2022, according to the Canadian government.
Ireland has the fastest growing economy in Europe and continued economic growth is expected to fuel increased demand for U.S. products and services, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce.
Last year Maine exported about $12 million worth of goods to Ireland and it ranks 29th of 163 export destinations, said Wade Merritt, the international trade director for the Maine Dept. of Economic and Community Development during Tuesday’s public hearing.
Over 450 Irish firms employ more than 100,000 across all 50 states representing investment in the agri-food and nutrition, construction, healthcare, and engineering services. Maine and Ireland are very similar places both in terms of size, interests and culture, Stewart said.
“This relationship is not just something that is relegated to the dustbin of history. The proud legacy of the impact of Irish-Americans in the state continues even today,” Tobin Williamson of the Maine Immigrants’ Rights Coalition said in testimony supporting the bill. “Within the past year, Maine has seen visits from the Vice Consul General of Ireland to New England and a leader of the Irish Senate.”
The trade commission would cement the relationship, Williamson said.
Stewart points to Maine’s economic drivers in forestry, fishing and farming as the most likely to benefit, especially when exploring innovation and new ways to use the state’s natural resources.
“For instance, in Aroostook County, the new McCrums manufacturing facility just opened a year or two ago and they are taking a potato and then doing different things with it,” he said. “That R&D advancement is really how you stay ahead of the curve and being competitive in those industries are really key,”
It’s the same thing with fishing and forestry and doing different things with products from the ocean or the Maine woods, he added.
“They will have things that we want and they will have ideas and we can leverage and benefit in both locations,” Stewart said.
Similar legislation has already been introduced in several states including Vermont and New Jersey and Stewart said the impetus for this legislation, originally drafted by a member of the New Jersey American Irish State Legislators Caucus, came from a 2022 caucus trip to Ireland.
Caucus members were very interested in supporting the peace process and the Good Friday Agreement – peace with Northern Ireland – and this legislation is the product of those discussions, he said.
The nine-member commission would be appointed by the governor, the president of the Senate and Speaker of the House.
Co-sponsor Rep. Maureen Terry, D-Gorham, added that the United States and Ireland already have one of the most robust trade relationships in the world and Ireland represents the ninth-largest source of foreign direct investment to the U.S.
Additionally, many high tech firms such as Google and Facebook have based their European operations there.
Since 2015 Ireland has also become an important research and development center for U.S. firms in Europe, she said.
“After visiting our colleagues and counterparts in Ireland over the summer, it has become abundantly clear that now more than ever, Mainers will benefit from deeper economic ties with Ireland,” Terry said. “We already share so much, aside from our rich histories, including a love of beer, strong economic roots in agriculture and aquaculture, and burgeoning biotech and banking industries. But there is still so much we have to gain and share with each other. “
LD 2164 currently remains in committee.
