Page "Anglo-Irish Trade War" Paragraph 10

With the farming community having little money to spend, there was a considerable decline in the demand for manufactured goods, so that industries were also affected.

The introduction of new import tariffs helped some Irish industries to expand when Lemass introduced the Control of Manufactures Act, whereby the majority ownership of Irish companies was to be limited to Irish citizens.

This caused dozens of larger Irish companies with foreign investors, such as Guinness, to relocate their headquarters abroad and pay their corporate taxes there.

Additional sugar beet factories were opened at Mallow, Tuam and Thurles.

The Economic War did not seriously affect the balance of trade between the two countries because imports from Britain were restricted, but British exporters were very critical of their government due to the loss of business they also suffered in Ireland, by having to pay tariffs on goods they exported there.

Both the pressure they exerted on the British government and the discontent of Irish farmers with the Fianna Fáil government helped to encourage both sides to seek settlement of the economic dispute.