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SIR Keir Starmer was last night braced for the UK to take an instant hit in Donald Trump’s global trade war.
No10 was preparing for the worst, with 20 per cent tariffs
expected to be slapped on all imported goods after efforts to charm the President failed.
The White House said the charges would come into effect immediately once they were announced today.
Britain will then engage in more frantic diplomacy to get some or all
of the tariffs lifted, amid fears they will batter economic growth and
wipe out the Government’s £10billion financial cushion.
Trump was last night fine-tuning his announcement for what his Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said would be one of the “most important days in modern American history”.
She said: “We are focused on restoring the golden age of America,
and making America a manufacturing superpower.”
Foreign Secretary David Lammy told MPs Britain was “preparing for
the worst”.
He said all options remained on the table but No10 was not expected to retaliate immediately by imposing tariffs on the US.
PM Sir Keir said he would not resort to knee-jerk tactics but make a “calm and collected response”.
Deputy PM Angela Rayner said it would be ridiculous to cancel Trump’s unprecedented second state visit in response to the tariffs.
She said: “I don’t think that’s where we’re at at all. It’s not about who visits the King or not. It’s about putting the British interest first.”
Tory leader Kemi Badenoch said a trade deal was the best way to avoid tariffs and urged “significant diplomacy”.
She said: “Some people will want us to have trade retaliation. That just makes everyone poorer.”
Experts say that Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ headroom revealed at last
week’s Spring Statement could be obliterated if tariffs were kept in place for the rest of the decade.
Trump is expected to put 20 per cent tariffs on goods but 25 per cent levies on all car imports.
He was said to be open to discussing the pending levies with
world leaders, officials said.
What to expect on Trump’s ‘liberation day’
THE US president is expected to unveil sweeping tariffs at an event at the White House around 9pm UK time, in a move he has dubbed “liberation day”.
It is unclear what Mr Trump will announce on Wednesday, but his administration views the application of VAT rate as discriminating against US goods and could respond with a 20 per cent tariff on imports from the UK.
Mr Trump has already announced a 25 per cent import tax will be introduced on all cars imported to the US, a measure which will be a blow to the UK’s automotive industry.
Some 16.9 per cent of UK car exports were to the US last year, representing a total of more than 101,000 units worth £7.6billion.
Tariffs on steel and aluminium imports, including from British firms, are already in place.
