A waiting game on tariffs is beginning to play out between the UK and the United States on tariffs, amid warnings that Donald Trump’s latest strategy could hit the UK especially hard.
The US president on Thursday revealed he has asked his government to consider what tariffs should be applied to other nations – and to include the VAT applied to US goods in those countries in the calculations.
It is the latest step in Mr Trump‘s attempts to bring production back to the US and charge other nations for access to the American market. He has asked for a report to be completed by April.
Politics latest: UK won’t ‘overreact’ to Trump tariff announcement
Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster Pat McFadden told the Politics Hub with Sophy Ridge the UK was waiting to see how it would react.
He told Sky News: “Sometimes tariffs are announced, a couple of days later, they are unannounced.”
Mr Trump’s latest announcement was made just before Mr McFadden spoke to Sky News.
Sir Keir Starmer also spoke to Mr Trump on Thursday afternoon by phone, with a Downing Street spokesperson saying the conversation happened during a meeting between the prime minister and the president’s special envoy to the UK, Mark Burnett.
Mr Burnett and Sir Keir “emphasised the huge potential for even stronger collaboration on trade, tech and cultural matters between the US and the UK”, the spokesperson added.
