Starmer and Trump hold ‘productive’ call but Britain still ‘expects US tariffs this week’: UK politics lates – UK Times

Keir Starmer is considering retaliatory measures against the US after abandoning hopes the UK can avoid direct tariffs set to be unleashed by Donald Trump this week.

The prime minister has suggested he could follow the EU and Canada’s lead on retaliatory tariffs, vowing to “act in the national interest” and “leaving everything on the table”.

At the beginning of last week, there had been optimism that the UK would avoid direct levies planned for the EU, China and Canada among others. And there was even a hope that the UK/US trade deal might still be completed in time for 2 April.

But a highly placed source admitted that once President Trump confirmed 25 per cent tariffs on imported vehicles last Wednesday, “negotiations became much harder” for the UK government.

Another source told The Independent: “After the business with cars, tariffs look inevitable now.”

Read the full story by The Independent’s Political Correspondent David Maddox here:

The US president’s self-styled “Liberation Day” — which will see tariffs slapped on goods around the world – is set for Wednesday 2 April.

He has vowed to introduce a raft of “reciprocal” tariffs on the US’s trading partners, which he claims will boost the American economy.

This could include a general 20 per cent tax on UK products in response to the rate of VAT, something experts warn could shrink the British economy by 1 per cent.

Mr Trump has already announced a 25 per cent import tax on all cars imported to the US, a measure expected to hit British luxury car makers such as Rolls-Royce and Aston Martin.

The UK will be hit by US tariffs this week despite a “productive” phone call between Sir Keir Starmer and president Donald Trump over a trade deal, officials reportedly fear.

British representatives are racing to avoid Mr Trump’s self-styled “Liberation Day” on Wednesday, which will see high tariffs slapped on imported goods from around the world.

They hope to secure a “UK-US economic prosperity deal” which will exempt British goods from tariffs on imports into America.

But officials fear they will not have agreed a deal by this date, and hope to renegotiate the tariffs in the future, according to The Guardian.