Friday, March 14, 2025
Is the UK hobbled by Brexit in its response to US tariffs?
The paper says that the PM's diplomacy comes after the White House imposed 25 per cent tariffs on steel and aluminium imports on Wednesday, signalling that last-ditch efforts to persuade Trump to spare British industry from his global tariffs have failed:
While the European Union responded by announcing trade counter-measures and hitting American goods with retaliatory tariffs, the prime minister resisted calls for the UK to immediately hit back.
Instead, British officials are already working at pace with their US counterparts to get an economic agreement over the line, which would exempt Britain from the 25 per cent tariffs announced by Mr Trump on Wednesday.
A minister on Thursday told MPs business secretary Jonathan Reynolds is in talks with the US and is “standing up” for British industry.
Business minister Sarah Jones said: “Of course, we will continue talking with the US, as the secretary of state has been doing, and make sure we are standing up for British industry and doing the right thing."
It comes after the prime minister insisted “all options are on the table” when it comes to responding to Mr Trump’s tariffs, but promised to take a “pragmatic approach”.
While he said he was disappointed by the decision, he reminded MPs at PMQs that the UK is “negotiating an economic deal which covers and will include tariffs if we succeed”.
The Independent understands conversations have already started taking place between trade teams on either side of the Atlantic, with the UK government hopeful it can get a deal over the line as quickly as possible.
And next week, business secretary Jonathan Reynolds will travel to Washington for talks as part of the government’s ramped-up effort to come to an agreement.
However, well-placed sources within the Trump White House on Wednesday told The Independent that the UK can get “a quick trade deal”, but free speech issues raised by vice-president JD Vance with Sir Keir are likely to get in the way.
Mr Vance will be in charge of the US side of the talks, and The Independent has been told he will be “prioritising” free speech amid anger over people being arrested for posting on social media and proposed online safety legislation, which he sees as an assault on US tech companies.
The fact remains that having left the EU, the UK doesnt have the clout to resist Trump's tariff regime successfully, and if the government's free trade negotiations are at the mercy of Vance's rather bizarre agenda and his obsession with what he thinks is freedom, then it sounds like the talks are hobbled from the very start.
