Kemi Badenoch (Image: Getty Images)
Keir Starmer should not retaliate if Donald Trump unleashes his tariff bazooka on Britain, Kemi Badenoch warned today. The Conservative Party leader said that import levies “make everyone poorer” and demanded Labour ministers do more to secure a trade deal with the US.
Sir Keir and Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds have been working behind the scenes for weeks to try to get the UK a carve out from Mr Trump's April 2 “Liberation Day” plan. But it seems increasingly likely that British goods will be targeted along with imports into the US from around the world. Ms Badenoch said a deal should include help for areas like manufacturing - especially cars, and steel production, which will be “severely crippled” by tariffs.
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Speaking at a press conference at Tory headquarters she said the UK should not engage in a trade war with the US.
She said: "We should not be engaging in a trade war or tit-for-tat retaliation - that makes everybody poorer."
The leader of the opposition said she had not spoken to Republicans in the US to ask for the UK to be spared from tariffs.
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She insisted she was “not cutting across” the Government to speak to Republicans like JD Vance.
Mrs Badenoch urged against any retaliatory tariffs, saying they would raise costs for UK consumers.
“Making life more expensive for British consumers so that we can thumb our nose at Donald Trump is not the right way.
“We need to make sure that we keep the cost of living as low as possible for the British public,” she said.
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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.
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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 ￡7.6 billion.
The levy is on top of a series of tariffs set to come into effect on April 2, which could include a general 20 per cent tax on UK products in response to the rate of VAT, which Mr Trump deems to be discriminatory against the US.
The new tariffs could derail the Government’s plans to grow the economy, and they come into force just after Chancellor Rachel Reeves made a series of cuts at the spring statement in order to restore a narrow buffer in the public spending headroom.