Joshua Nevett<\/span><\/p>\nPolitical reporter<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n
Henry Zeffman<\/span><\/p>\nChief political correspondent<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
PA Media<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n\n
The UK will take a calm approach to US trade tariffs, rather than “a knee-jerk reaction,” Sir Keir Starmer has said.<\/p>\n
The prime minister suggested the UK would be affected by President Donald Trump’s expected announcement on Wednesday of sweeping taxes on goods imported to the US.<\/p>\n
The UK has so far failed to negotiate an exemption, but Sir Keir said negotiations on a deal that could eventually see them overturned were at an “advanced stage”.<\/p>\n
Sir Keir told his cabinet he was “keeping all options on the table” to respond to the tariffs, which economists have warned could damage the UK economy and increase the cost of living. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\n
In the cabinet meeting on Tuesday, Chancellor Rachel Reeves said global tariffs would “have an impact on the UK as an open trading economy”.<\/p>\n
But she insisted “securing a deal could mitigate some of those effects”.<\/p>\n
Trump has previously raised the possibility that countries could receive “breaks” from tariffs – taxes that will make it more expensive to import goods into the US.<\/p>\n
But over the weekend, Trump suggested the tariffs would hit all countries, not just those with the biggest trade imbalances with the US.<\/p>\n
Trump told reporters would “start with all countries” on Wednesday, an event the US president has dubbed “Liberation Day”.<\/p>\n
On Monday, the prime minister’s official spokesman said talks on an economic deal between the two countries to avoid tariffs had been “constructive”, but he did not rule out retaliating if they were imposed on the UK.<\/p>\n
Earlier, Trade Secretary Jonathan Reynolds told the BBC the UK was in the “best possible position of any country” to reverse the tariffs.<\/p>\n
He said: “I do believe not only can we get to a place where we are avoiding tariffs on each other, but we’re also strengthening that relationship.”<\/p>\n
He said negotiations that often take years had been done in days.<\/p>\n
“And I believe that the framework of an agreement is certainly in place,” he added, although he did not give a timescale on when an exemption might be agreed.<\/p>\n
Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch said a “tit-for-tat” approach of raising tariffs on US goods would only increase bills for British consumers. <\/p>\n
Instead, she said the government needed to focus on getting a trade deal with the US “as soon as possible”. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n