US tariffs could harm the entire world’s economy, Yvette Cooper has said.
The Home Secretary reiterated the Prime Minister’s message that “no option is off the table” when it comes to responding to Donald Trump’s tariff plans.
The US president announced this week a 25% import tax would be introduced on all cars imported to the US, a measure expected to hit British luxury carmakers such as Rolls-Royce and Aston Martin.
The levy is on top of a series of reciprocal tariffs set to come into effect on April 2, which could include a general 20% tax on UK products in response to the rate of VAT.
The new trade taxes come into force just after Rachel Reeves made a series of spending cuts at the spring statement in order to restore a narrow buffer for her public spending plans.
Asked by Sky News’s Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips programme how damaging she thought the tariffs could be, Ms Cooper said: “In the end, if you increase barriers to trade right across the world, that’s not good for the world economy, let alone any individual country as part of that.
“So that’s why our approach to this has been to try and seek new trade agreements across the world, including improving our trading relationship with the EU, as well as with the US.”
Discussions with the US over exemptions from the levy are “intense”, she said.
Ms Cooper added: “We obviously can’t keep a running commentary on different discussions that are taking place, but we have to always make sure that we’re acting in the national interest.”
The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) has warned the impact of reciprocal tariffs would be worse for the UK than allowing the levy to go ahead unimpeded.
Ministers are currently attempting to negotiate an exemption from the tariffs, with reports suggesting a tax on American big tech companies could be reduced or even abolished in exchange for a carve-out on British imports to the US.
