Keir Starmer said the UK would “keep all options on the table” to respond to Donald Trump’s decision to impose tariffs on steel and aluminium imports.
Donald Trump’s tariffs have wrecked havoc on trade globally (Image: PA/Getty)
Sir Keir Starmer has said the UK would keep open the option of retaliatory measures after Donald Trump
Jobs could be at risk in the beleaguered British steel industry after the UK failed to secure an exemption to the US president’s global tariffs on the metal imports. The European Union responded by announcing trade counter-measures, hitting American goods with retaliatory tariffs, but the Prime Minister resisted calls for the UK to immediately hit back.
At Prime Minister’s Questions, Sir Keir said: “I’m disappointed to see global tariffs in relation to steel and aluminium.
“We will take a pragmatic approach.”
The UK is “negotiating an economic deal which covers and will include tariffs if we succeed,” he told MPs.
“But we will keep all options on the table.”
Liberal Democrats deputy leader Daisy Cooper said Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds needs to “toughen up” and retaliate in response to Donald Trump
She said: “Being repeatedly kicked by the other side and doing nothing is not an effective negotiating position.
“The Business Secretary needs to toughen up.
“Meanwhile, the Conservatives would roll over and beg Trump for a bad trade deal that sells out British farmers and our NHS.
“Enough is enough. We must act from a position of strength, standing up for British steel and the UK economy through retaliatory measures.”
