Sir Keir Starmer’s key meeting with EU leaders as he attempts to reset relations with the bloc threatens to be overshadowed by the Donald Trump’s promise to impose more tariffs.
As Sir Keir becomes the first prime minister since Brexit to meet with the 27 EU leaders, much of the attention will be on threats from the White House to expand his growing trade war to Europe.
The president has hinted Britain could cut a deal with the United States to avoid being dragged into his global trade war - but hinted punishing tariffs are being planned for the EU.
The president said the UK is “out of line” in international trade, but suggested any outstanding issues could be resolved without hiking taxes on British imports. In a boost for Sir Keir, Mr Trump said the pair have had numerous phone calls and are “getting along very well”.
But it comes just weeks after White House insiders told The Independent Mr Trump believes he has Sir Keir’s government “over a barrel” on trade, with the UK increasingly reliant on a US deal. Senior sources in the president’s team said the UK had no choice but to seek a trade agreement after the prime minister said his government’s success would be judged primarily on economic growth.
The warning added to the growing headache for Sir Keir as he seeks to navigate building closer ties with Europe, the US and China without angering any of the three.
And, in a stark reminder of Mr Trump’s animosity towards Brussels, the US president said on Monday: “The European Union, it’s an atrocity what they’ve done.” “They have really taken advantage of us... obviously something is going to take place there,” he said.
He criticised the bloc’s “tremendous” trade deficit with the United States, the difference between the value of its imports and exports, urging the EU to purchase more American oil and gas to ease the gap.
“Otherwise, it is TARIFFS all the way,” he wrote in a recent post on his Truth Social platform.
The latest flare up in tensions between Mr Trump and Brussels threatens to overshadow Sir Keir’s meeting with EU leaders on Monday night.
The prime minister will urge Europe to bear down on Vladimir Putin’s Russia when he meets the heads of the 27 EU governments on Monday, as he continues efforts to reset Britain’s relationship with the trade bloc.
But the gathering, meant to focus on defence co-operation, is likely to be preoccupied with news from across the Atlantic.
The US president has announced he will impose 25 per cent trade taxes on goods coming from America’s nearest neighbours and largest trade partners – Canada and Mexico – as well as a 10 per cent levy on Chinese goods.
All three nations have vowed to respond in kind to Mr Trump’s actions, sparking fears of a global trade war.
Asked by the BBC early on Monday if he would target the UK with tariffs, Mr Trump said: “UK is out of line but I’m sure that one, I think that one can be worked out.
“But the European Union, it’s an atrocity what they’ve done.”
Asked about the potential of tariffs on UK exports to the US, minister Catherine McKinnell told Times Radio: “We have a really strong trading relationship with the United States. Our trade is worth around £300 billion per year.
“We are the largest investors in one another's economies, £1.2 trillion invested in each other's economies. I think we have every reason to look forward to a positive future with the United States and trade.”
Sir Keir will urge EU countries to shoulder more of the burden of aid for Ukraine at the meeting in Belgium.
He will call on them to follow UK and US sanctions on Russia’s faltering economy and praise Mr Trump’s threat of further restrictions, which he will claim has “rattled” President Putin.
The prime minister will also meet Nato secretary general Mark Rutte at the alliance’s headquarters in Brussels.
“I’m here to work with our European partners on keeping up the pressure, targeting the energy revenues and the companies supplying his missile factories to crush Putin’s war machine,” Sir Keir said.
“Because ultimately, alongside our military support, that is what will bring peace closer.”
EU officials have started drawing up contingency plans for the threat of US tariffs, and representatives of the bloc are bullish about the prospect of a face-off with America, the Telegraph reported.
But Sir Keir was more cautious when asked about Mr Trump’s actions, telling reporters on Sunday: “It is early days. What I want to see is strong trading relations.”
The prime minister added: “In the discussions that I have had with President Trump, that is what we have centred on, a strong trading relationship.”
Mr Trump also said discussions with Sir Keir had “been very nice”, adding: “We’ve had a couple of meetings. We’ve had numerous phone calls. We’re getting along very well.”
The Liberal Democrats urged Sir Keir to start talks for a customs union with the EU as a bulwark against future American tariffs.
The path towards a deal could start with the UK joining the Pan-Euro-Mediterranean (PEM) Convention, an agreement which allows for tariff-free movement of some goods across the continent, Lib Dem leader Sir Ed Davey said.
A full EU-UK customs union could be reached “at the latest by 2030”, he added.
Rejoining the customs union and single market are both “red lines” for the Labour Government, which is committed not to breach in its election manifesto.
The prime minister said Brexit was “settled”, and he was focusing on “a closer relationship on defence and security, on energy, on trade and our economy”.
Shadow business secretary Andrew Griffith told Sky News that Sir Keir “should be rediverting his plane” to Washington DC, as the UK already had a trade deal with the EU, but not with America.
The Conservatives have set the prime minister five “tests” over his approach to Brexit, and claim that if he fails to meet them it will prove he is willing to “undo” the settlement the Tories reached while in power.
Among the commitments the Tories demanded are for the UK to have continued freedoms over negotiating trade deals, and control of its borders outside the single market.
Ministers have previously said they do not believe the US will impose tariffs on the UK as it does not have a trade deficit with Britain.
Sir Keir has previously insisted the UK does not need to make a choice between closer ties with Europe or the US.
