Keir Starmer has vowed the UK will respond to the imposition of US tariffs with “cool and calm heads.”
Speaking to business leaders at Downing Street, the prime minister said that “clearly there will be an economic impact” from Donald Trump’s tariffs.
The US president imposed a 10 per cent tariff on US imports of UK goods as he set out sweeping trade levies hitting countries across the world on Wednesday evening.
The US president insisted his “liberation day” announcement was a “declaration of economic independence”.
Starmer issued a response on Thursday morning from 10 Downing Street as he spoke to business bosses including AstraZeneca’s Pascal Soriot, BAE’s Charles Woodburn and Jaguar Land Rover’s Richard Molyneux.
He said: “Last night, the president of the United States, acted for his country. That is his mandate. Today, I will act in Britain’s interests, with mine.
“I understand how important this is for your business as it is for the British people. So, we move now to the next phase of our plan.”
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He added: “Decisions we take in coming days and weeks will be guided only by our national interest, in the interests of our economy, in the interests of businesses around this table, in the interests of putting money in the pockets of working people.
“Nothing else will guide me. That is my focus.”
“Clearly, there will be an economic impact from the decisions the US has taken, both here and globally. But I want to be crystal clear: we are prepared, indeed one of the great strengths of this nation is our ability to keep a cool head.
“I said that in my first speech as prime minister and that is how I govern, that is how we have planned and that is exactly what is required today.”
The prime minister continued: “Nobody wins in a trade war, that is not in our national interest.
“We have a fair and balanced trade relationship with the US. Negotiations on an economic prosperity deal – one that strengthens our existing trading relationship – they continue and we will fight for the best deal for Britain.
“Nonetheless, I do want to be clear I will only strike a deal if it is in the national interest and if it is the right thing to do for the security of working people. Protects the pound in their pocket, that they work so hard to earn for their family.
“That is my priority. That is always my priority. So – today marks a new stage in our preparations.
“We have a range of levers at our disposal, and we will continue our work with businesses across the country to understand their assessment of these options.
“As I say – our intention remains to secure a deal. But nothing is off the table. We have to understand that just as with defence and security, so too for the economy and trade we are living in a changing world, entering a new era. We must rise to this challenge.
“That is why I have instructed my team to move further and faster on the changes I believe will make our economy stronger and more resilient.
“Because this government will do everything necessary to defend the UK’s national interest. Everything necessary to provide the foundation of security that working people need to get on with their lives.
“That is how we have acted and how we will continue to act, with pragmatism, cool and calm heads – focused on the national interest.”
Jonathan Reynolds, the business trade secretary, has said the government will not retaliate immediately and would pursue an economic deal with the US to remove Trump’s tariffs.
He told Sky News: “I hope perhaps if we are successful there will be a template for other countries to resolve some of these issues.”
He added: “There’s a set of complaints from the US on some of how the current global trading arrangements work. They won’t get their own way on all of that. But there are some things to talk about.
“And I do hope there’s a chance to take some lessons from that if we are successful for the wider world economy.”
Reynolds also revealed that Trump’s team had raised objections to UK food safety standards, appearing to refer to tensions over the UK’s ban on US chlorine-washed chicken and hormone-treated beef.
“We have a food standards regime which we’re very committed to in the UK which they have some objections to. So they put a number of factors into this”, he told the BBC.
Josh Self is Editor of Politics.co.uk, follow him on Bluesky here.
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Source: Politics
