UK talks with US ‘intense’ as tariff deadline looms | Politics | News | EUROtoday

The UK’s discussions with the US over exemptions from Donald Trump’s tariffs are “intense”, Yvette Cooper has mentioned. British officers have been scrambling to safe a commerce take care of the US earlier than punishing tariffs are triggered this week.

But there are rising fears {that a} pact will not be struck earlier than Donald Trump’s “Liberation Day” kicks in on Tuesday. The Home Secretary’s feedback yesterday (SUN) got here days earlier than the White House goes forward with a 25% tax on automobile imports and threats of wider tariffs on different items on 2 April. Ms Cooper mentioned US tariffs might hurt all the world’s economic system.

When requested by Sky News’s Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips programme how damaging she thought the tariffs might be, the Home Secretary mentioned: “In the end, if you increase barriers to trade right across the world, that’s not good for the world economy, let alone any individual country as part of that.

“So that’s why our approach to this has been to try and seek new trade agreements across the world, including improving our trading relationship with the EU as well as with the US.”

Ms Cooper reiterated the Prime Minister’s message that “no option is off the table”, on the subject of responding to the tariffs.

Discussions with the US over exemptions from the levy are “intense”, she mentioned.

Ms Cooper added: “We obviously can’t keep a running commentary on different discussions that are taking place, but we have to always make sure that we’re acting in the national interest.”

The Prime Minister mentioned this week that his Government was concerned in ongoing discussions with the White House aimed toward “mitigating the impact” of any levies however that finally “our national interest has to come first”.

The US is the second largest export market after the European Union for automobiles constructed within the UK.

Jaguar Land Rover might be one of many UK car producers most affected by tariffs.

Some 16.9% of UK automobile exports had been to the US final yr, representing a complete of greater than 101,000 models value £7.6 billion.

Ministers have mentioned they may take a practical method in the direction of the specter of tariffs, in search of to strengthen transatlantic commerce ties and pursue a wider UK-US financial deal.

The Tories have pressured the necessity to safe a commerce take care of the US to guard towards the impression of tariffs.