Donald Trump ‘loves’ UK – particularly when stitching up Keir Starmer | Personal Finance | Finance | EUROtoday

The fact is there was nothing to open within the first place. We traded freely and equally with the US till Trump unleashed his tariff blitz on April 2.

While Trump has raged at Europe, claiming but a conspiracy towards the US, he could not say that in regards to the UK.

The EU had a large €198billion (£168billion) commerce surplus with the US final 12 months. By distinction, the UK and US are evenly balanced. After right this moment, that gained’t be the case. Trump will guzzle us down.

He was all smiles and sort phrases claiming: “There are no countries that are closer than our two countries. We’ve always had a fair and balanced relationship.”

He added: “This deal just fell into place.”

Or to be exact, PM Keir Starmer fell into place.

By some calculations, reasonably than giving the UK financial system a desperately wanted increase, it’s going to value us £10billion a 12 months.

We’re nonetheless selecting over the main points, however a chart displayed within the Oval Office gave off a nasty whiff.

It prompt the US has trebled its tariffs on the UK below Trump. While we’ve greater than halved ours.

Tory chief Kemi Badenoch stated the nation had been “shafted” and it’s arduous to disagree.

There had been some good bits. Trump’s mooted 25% tariffs on metal British metal exports to the US will likely be slashed to zero.

We exported £370million value final 12 months, so I assume that is one thing.

Luxury automotive makers equivalent to Range Rover and Aston Martin had been threatened with 25% tariffs.

Now they have been given a quota of 100,000 a 12 months that will likely be charged at 10%. That’s higher than 25% however bear in mind, earlier than we paid nothing.

In return for excluding British-made Rolls-Royce plane engines from US tariffs, the UK has in some way pledged to purchase £10billion value of Boeing plane.

How Starmer can promise to purchase plane, we do not but know.

Nor do we all know whether or not Britain’s mighty pharmaceutical corporations, AstraZeneca and Glaxo, will likely be spared medication tariffs. Trump appears to be stalling on that.

He has waived tariffs on our beef exports, however since they’re solely value £3million a 12 months that is scraps. And I dread to suppose which meals requirements we have now surrendered in return.

Starmer was straightforward meat for Trump. By reducing tariffs that he solely invented final month he created a faux disaster that rattled the PM into concessions.

No marvel Trump was beaming. And no marvel he bought the deal over the road so rapidly, as a result of why would not he?

Trump thinks lavishing Brits with reward will make us really feel higher. Chances are we can’t be smiling once we tuck into the main points of the deal.

Which is not actually a deal anyway, extra of a stitch-up.

While the PM can declare the glory of drawing up the primary commerce cope with Trump, that might backfire.

If subsequent commerce offers change into extra beneficiant, it’ll expose his negotiating weak point.

Heaven assist us when Starmer offers with the EU. Imagine what he’ll give away then.