UK, EU diplomats urge Starmer to take 'stern stance' against Trump tariff threats: Report

Senior UK and European Union diplomats are suggesting UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer to “fight back strongly” against US President Donald Trump if he imposes tariffs on British exports. According to The Guardian, there have been fears in No 10 that the American president could trigger a global trade war, which would have a devastating impact on the British economy.

As per the report, British government officials in London and Washington worked frantically this weekend convincing Trump to not slap tariffs on key British industries. The US president has already announced plans for 25 per cent blanket tariffs on imports of cars , steel and aluminium to the United States.

British officials are concerned about Washington’s plan to impose a reciprocal 25 per cent tariffs on all countries that impose any sort of VAT on US exports. The nations on Trump’s hit list are the United Kingdom and EU member states. It is pertinent to note that the United States does not impose VAT on its imports.

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Starmer gets multiple warnings

The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) warned last week that a 20 per cent increase in tariffs between the US and the rest of the world has the potential to cut UK’s growth by 1 per cent. In the midst of all this, Starmer is reportedly waiting to judge how to react , based on the level of tariffs that might get imposed on the UK.

According to The Guardian, government officials told the British premier to be ready to “act in the national interest” if Trump hits the UK hard. However, his team also argued that Starmer will be “pragmatic” if need be – suggesting he may not retaliate immediately, in the hope of talking Trump around over time. The officials also believe Starrmer will be looking at a wider US-UK trade deal.

Several politicians from the Liberal Democrats have already warned the UK PM to stop “appeasing Trump” by reducing a tax for US tech firms at the same time as imposing savage welfare cuts, including on disabled people.

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Starmer asked to follow Carney’s footsteps

While speaking to The Observer, former UK ambassador to Washington Kim Darroch said Starmer should learn from the experience over recent days of the Canadian prime minister, Mark Carney , who appears to have softened Trump’s tariff threat by warning of strong Canadian retaliation. Earlier this week, Carney said: “It is clear that the United States is no longer a reliable partner.”

“It’s understandable that faced with deeply damaging US tariffs on British cars, steel and aluminium, the government should think about concessions like reducing digital tax. But they need to be wary of giving Trump wins; tariffs are his all-purpose forcing mechanism and he’ll use them again and again if he sees them working,” Darroch told the British news outlet.

“And they should note the dramatic turnaround in Canadian politics, where on the back of a robust and defiant response to US tariff threats, Mark Carney’s Liberals have gone from 14 points behind the Canadian Conservative party at the end of January to eight points ahead last week,” he added.

Meanwhile, João Vale de Almeida, former EU ambassador to the US and the UK, said he did not expect the UK to retaliate in the way the EU was bound to. However, he emphasised that it was important for Starmer to hit back in some way and take a strong stance over the matter. “He [Starmer] should at least condemn the tariffs, as they are bad for everyone,” Vale de Almeida told The Observer.

Polls conducted by the same British outlet following Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves ’s spring statement, 11 per cent of UK voters expect the economy to improve over the next 12 months, with 23 per cent saying it will stay the same and 61 per cent that it will get worse.

Apart from this, British voters rated the British economy relatively poorly compared with other large economic nations, particularly China. The UK economy is rated better than China’s by just 9 per cent of UK voters, with 10 per cent saying it is about the same and 43 per cent saying it is worse.