Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it’s investigating the financials of Elon Musk’s pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, ‘The A Word’, which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.
Sir Keir Starmer is on a collision course with Donald Trump over the president’s latest threat to impose tariffs on the UK and over the future of Ukraine.
The US president announced on Thursday that he would impose “reciprocal tariffs” on all other countries, charging the same amount as levies imposed on American exports – claiming such a move was “fair to all”.
The impact of the announcement on the UK was not immediately clear, but the policy published by the White House included VAT as a target for reciprocal tariffs – which analysts have suggested could knock around £24bn off UK Gross Domestic Product (GDP) over the next two years.
It comes amid growing concern over how Mr Trump’s agenda could impact the global defence landscape, after he held shock talks with Russia’s Vladimir Putin and the US suggested Ukraine may be forced to give up some of its territory.
US defence secretary Pete Hegseth indicated that Nato membership is not a realistic prospect for Ukraine, despite Nato’s official position – endorsed by Sir Keir’s government in the UK-Ukraine 100-year partnership – that Kyiv is on an irreversible path to joining the alliance.
The UK issued a robust response, saying “there can be no negotiation about Ukraine without Ukraine” – paving the way for the two countries to clash over the issue if Volodymyr Zelensky is excluded from the negotiating table.
And in the first talks between Sir Keir and Mr Zelensky since Mr Trump’s intervention, the prime minister reiterated the UK’s commitment to the country’s path into the alliance.
The subject of global defence will be top of the agenda on Friday as a number of senior Cabinet ministers head to Germany for the Munich Security Conference, where European allies are expected to thrash out a response to Mr Trump’s change in stance.
In what appears to be an attempt to ease tensions between the two administrations, Sir Keir and Mr Trump spoke over the phone on Thursday evening, discussing the prime minister’s “forthcoming visit to the US”, Downing Street said.
On the subject of tariffs, government minister Peter Kyle warned that Britain will “respond accordingly” after Mr Trump sparked fears of a global trade war.
Asked if Britain should be worried about the threat, the technology secretary said: “The first thing to reassure people is that we need a government with cool, clear thinking at times like this, and this is what you have with this government.
“We will assess any changes and challenges that come down the line from any part of the global economy, and we will act appropriately in the best interest of Britain.
“The second thing to say is that whatever the circumstances globally, you’ve got to get the foundations right for running our domestic economy. That’s why we fixed some of the challenges we inherited from the previous government.”
Pressed on whether the government would respond with retaliatory measures to Mr Trump, the minister said: “What I said is that we will have a cool, clear look at what’s in the national interest, and we will respond accordingly, based on what we actually have in fact.”
On Thursday evening, senior minister Pat McFadden said the government would not overreact but “wait and see” whether the tariffs “actually come to pass”.
The chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster told Sky News: “Sometimes tariffs are announced, a couple of days later, they are unannounced.”
The policy published by the White House on Thursday is a wide-ranging one, threatening retaliation not just for tariffs but for other non-tariff barriers and “unfair or harmful acts, policies or practices”.
These include subsidies, “burdensome regulatory requirements” on US businesses and restrictions on animal and plant products, possibly including UK food standards that prevent the import of some US goods such as chlorine-washed chicken.
The policy also explicitly mentions “value-added tax” as an “unfair, discriminatory or extraterritorial tax”, despite VAT being levied irrespective of whether a product has been imported or not.
George Saravelos, the global head of FX Research at Deutsche Bank, told The Telegraph that the UK would face extra charges of 21 per cent if the US imposed duties based on tariff policy and VAT combined.
According to the National Institute of Economic and Social Research (Niesr), tariffs of this scale would knock 0.4 per cent off economic growth over the next two years, amounting to around £24bn.
President Trump has announced a series of tariffs throughout the first few weeks of his presidency, including earlier this week imposing a 25 per cent levy on steel imports.
But while his approach to international trade has frayed relations with some of the US’s closest allies, particularly Canada, his announcements have not always proved permanent.
Having announced tariffs on Canada and Mexico, he later suspended them for 30 days following negotiations.
Canada and Mexico have readied retaliatory tariffs should the duties come into effect, as has the EU, which Mr Trump has repeatedly threatened, while China has already taken retaliatory steps to a 10 per cent tariff on its exports to the US.
Thursday’s tariffs will not come into effect immediately, with Mr Trump ordering his advisers to carry out investigations into other countries’ trade practices before suggesting what measures to impose.
Following the announcement, the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) warned that Mr Trump’s plans would “upend established trade norms” and cause “more cost and uncertainty for investors, businesses and consumers across the world”.
But the BCC’s head of trade policy, William Bain, urged the government not to “get sucked into a trade war of tit-for-tat tariffs, which could easily spiral out of control”.
