Sir Keir Starmer will face MPs on Tuesday as market turbulence triggered by Donald Trump’s tariffs showed signs of easing.
The Prime Minister will appear before the Liaison Committee of senior MPs on the last day the Commons sits before it heads into the Easter break.
London’s FTSE 100 share index rose in the first few minutes of trading on Tuesday, as a sense of optimism returned to the financial markets after several days of heavy losses.
The index, which tracks the UK’s top 100 listed companies, was up more than 1% shortly after markets opened on Tuesday.
It follows a more positive session for Asian markets, with some indexes making gains after suffering from steep falls in previous days.
The next stage of the US president’s tariff programme comes into force in the early hours of Wednesday, with import taxes at 20% for goods from European Union nations and 24% from Japan.
The trade war between the world’s biggest economies threatened to escalate as Mr Trump said he was willing to impose “additional tariffs on China of 50%” in response to Beijing’s retaliatory 34% rate which followed the US president’s initial announcement.
Early on Tuesday, China hinted more retaliatory tariffs may be coming.
A Chinese commerce ministry statement said: “The US threat to escalate tariffs on China is a mistake on top of a mistake and once again exposes the blackmailing nature of the US. China will never accept this. If the US insists on its own way, China will fight to the end.”
In the UK, Health Secretary Wes Streeting said the steps the US has taken are “unprecedented in terms of global trade” and warned a global trade war could cause problems with the supply of medicines.
“We are constantly watching and acting on this situation to try and get medicines into the country, to make sure we’ve got availability, to show some flexibility in terms of how medicines are dispensed, to deal with shortages,” he told Sky News.
“But whether it’s medicines, whether it’s parts for manufacturing, whether it’s… the ability of businesses in this country to turn a profit, this is an extremely turbulent situation.”
The UK Government is pushing for a deal with the White House in the hope of easing the 10% tariff on US imports of British goods, along with a 25% tariff on cars and separate import taxes for steel and aluminium.
But Mr Streeting told the BBC “the NHS is not for sale and our patients’ data is not for sale” as part of any deal with the US.
The impact of Mr Trump’s tariffs is likely to be on the agenda for the Liaison Committee, where Sir Keir may also be questioned about the war in Ukraine, conflict in the Middle East, and the US president’s announcement that America will hold direct talks with Iran about its nuclear programme.
In the Oval Office on Monday, Mr Trump indicated he was not open to the idea of pausing tariffs to allow for negotiations with other countries.
Mr Trump also suggested the tariffs could be both a negotiating tool to extract concessions out of other countries, as well as “permanent” levies aimed at raising cash for America’s coffers, amid contrasting views from members ofhis administration about their purpose.
The UK has not retaliated so far, but has drawn up a 417-page list of possible products which could face tariffs if Sir Keir decides to put import taxes on US goods.
Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds insisted it was a “total misreading of the situation” to suggest Sir Keir would appear timid if he decided not to hit back.
He told the BBC’s Newsnight: “Being calm does not mean you’re passive. Being calm is about making sure you’re pursuing your own national interest, in this case, a deeper, fairer trader relationship between ourselves and the US.”
