Keir Starmer responds to threat of Donald Trump tariffs amid trade war fears

Donald Trump has claimed the UK is ‘out of line’ as he threatened the EU with tariffs – sparking fears of a fracture between the NATO alliance at a crucial moment

Keir Starmer has tried to play down the threat of US tariffs amid fears Donald Trump is set to launch trade wars against his allies.

The Prime Minister is walking a tightrope as he tries to keep European leaders and the volatile US President onside. Trump has ominously refused to rule out introducing tariffs on the UK after saying he would “definitely” do so against the EU. Trump’s threats have led to increased tensions at a crucial time within defence bloc NATO – which the US, Canada and much of Europe are members of.

Experts have previously warned the UK could face a £22billion hit to exports if Trump does impose tariffs on goods from Britain entering the US. Asked about this threat, the PM said: “On the question of tariffs, look it’s early days. And I think what’s really important is open and strong trading relations. And that’s been the basis of my discussions with President Trump.”

Pressed on whether he would roll back his resetting of the UK’s relationship with Europe to please the US President, he said: “In relation to the relationship between the UK and the US of the EU. I’ve always been clear that both are important to us.”

He went on:”It’s really important that we work with both and we don’t see it as an either-or. It is in the best interests of the UK, but also the best interest I think in terms of global security and defence, that we continue to work both with the US and with Europe on these vital issues.”

It comes after Trump said: “The UK is out of line. But I’m sure that one, I think that one, can be worked out.” The Republican said tariffs will “definitely” be placed on goods from the EU, saying America’s trade deficit with the bloc is “an atrocity”.

Trump claimed this means “they (the EU) take almost nothing and we take everything from them”. He has already announced tariffs between the US and Canada, China and Mexico – although the latter have been paused for a month.

Trump said Mr Starmer has been “very nice” as he appeared to suggest he could work out a solution with the UK without introducing tariffs. He said: “We’ve had a couple of meetings. We’ve had numerous phone calls. We’re getting on very well. We’ll see if we can balance out our budget.”

Asked if he’ll slap tariffs on the UK, Mr Trump said: “We’re going to see what happens. It’ll happen. It might. We’ll see how things work out. It might happen with them but it will definitely happen with the European Union because they’re really take advantage of us.”

Earlier No10 insisted the US President can be trusted despite sparking fears of global trade war and imposing massive tariffs on Canada. Over the weekend the erratic US President announced 25% trade taxes on goods coming from America’s nearest neighbours and largest trade partners – Canada and Mexico.

Asked whether the US President could be trusted, the PM’s official spokesman said on Monday: “Yes, the PM has had a really constructive set of early conversations with President Trump and looks forward to working with him to deepen our trade and investment, security and defence relationship.”

Mr Starmer is in Brussels attempting to focus European minds on the fight against Vladimir Putin. He claimed Putin is “rattled” by economic woes as he called on European leaders to help crush his war machine. The PM held crunch talks in Brussels to discuss security and defence.

He called on Europe to turn the screw on Putin’s regime. Russia faces skyrocketing inflation with domestic pressure growing on the warmonger President. He said: “We’ve had a very productive discussion today on how we can meet the rising threats that Russia poses across our continent, including the situation in Ukraine.”

The PM said: “Let’s be absolutely clear, peace will come through strength.” He added: “We should harden European strength.”

US President Donald Trump has piled further pressure on Putin by threatening further sanctions. Mr Starmer stated: “We need to see all allies stepping up – particularly in Europe.

“President Trump has threatened more sanctions on Russia and it’s clear that’s got Putin rattled. We know that he’s worried about the state of the Russian economy. 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. Because ultimately, alongside our military support, that is what will bring peace closer.”