The Foreign Secretary has said the UK must “prepare for the worst” outcome on The US President’s tariffs war.
David Lammy said that “intense conversations” ongoing to try and agree a possible economic agreement and that businesses in the UK will require the “best support.”
Lammy said there will be a “turbulent economic time” as Donald Trump will announce to the world on Wednesday imports taxes.
Liberal Democrat foreign affairs spokesman Calum Miller told MPs in the House of Commons, “My constituents at the BMW Mini plant in Cowley are deeply concerned about the impact of Donald Trump’s global tariff war.
“The uncertainty the plant faces is made much worse by the red tape that now inhibits integrated car production with suppliers in the EU.
“So does the Foreign Secretary agree that in addition to a robust response to the White House, the best step the government can take to support British businesses would be to start talks on a bespoke UK-EU customs union without delay?”
Lammy said, “We are an open trading nation. We have been that under successive governments.
“It’s hugely important at this time that we continue the intense conversations we’re having with the US administration on getting an economic agreement but of course we prepare for the worst – all options remain on the table, as the Prime Minister indicated again just yesterday.
“But it’s also right that the Business Secretary and I and others across government continue to engage with business and industry so we can give them the best support at what will be a turbulent economic time, not just for our own country but of course much of the world.”
Shadow foreign secretary Dame Priti Patel asked, “What discussions has the Foreign Secretary personally undertaken about the trade agreement and can he confirm this will be a comprehensive trade deal that the Conservative government was negotiating?”
The Foreign Secretary responded with, “No, because the Conservative government badly failed in their negotiations with the US.
“We are engaged in intense conversations to strike an economic agreement at this time. We continue discussions with our Indian counterparts also on a trade deal and with the Gulf, picking up the failure of the last government to land the trade deals that would deliver growth to this country.”
