LONDON, Feb 23 (Reuters) – Britain does not expect U.S. President Donald Trump’s new global tariff of 15% to impact the “majority” of a UK-U.S. economic deal that was announced last year, Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s spokesman said on Monday.
The spokesman said Britain’s trade minister, Peter Kyle, had spoken with Jamieson Greer, the U.S. trade representative, to highlight his concerns about the uncertainty this would cause for businesses.
Britain is at risk of becoming one of the worst hit countries after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down Trump’s global tariffs on Friday and he responded with new levies across the board.
Starmer’s government had negotiated a lower reciprocal tariff rate at 10% after reaching a deal with the U.S. last year, but Trump’s promise to reimpose higher levies at 15% means businesses may now face even higher duties.
Starmer’s spokesman said the government expects discussions between British and U.S. officials to continue this week and he refused to rule out the possibility of retaliatory tariffs.
“We don’t expect this ruling to impact the majority of trade” under the UK-U.S. economic deal, including tariffs agreed on steel, pharmaceuticals and cars, the spokesman said.
Britain will be among the countries most impacted by Trump’s latest announcement, according to the think tank Global Trade Alert, while Brazil, China and India stand to benefit the most.
Starmer’s spokesman said businesses do not want “to see a trade war”, but he said “nothing is off the table at this stage”.
(Reporting by Andrew MacAskill; writing by Kate Holton; editing by William James)
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