Donald Trump has described the UK as “out of line” in its trade with the US but that the situation could be “worked out”, as he doubled down on his threat to place tariffs on the European Union.
Asked by the BBC early on Monday if he would target the UK with tariffs, the US President said it “might happen”, but that it “would definitely happen with the European Union, I can tell you that.
“They’ve really taken advantage of us… They don’t take our cars, they don’t take our farm products, they take almost nothing. And we take almost everything from them.”
He added: “So the UK is way out of line …but I think that one can be worked out.
“But the European Union, it’s an atrocity what they’ve done.”
Trump also said discussions with Sir Keir Starmer had “been very nice”, adding: “We’ve had a couple of meetings. We’ve had numerous phone calls. We’re getting along very well, we’ll see if we can balance out our budget.”
The president has said he will talk on Monday with the leaders of Canada and Mexico, which are both facing 25% tariffs from Tuesday, and have announced retaliatory tariffs of their own.
He said the sweeping tariffs, which also include a 10% tax on Chinese goods, may cause “short term” pain for Americans as global markets reflected concerns the levies could undermine growth and reignite inflation.
“I don’t expect anything dramatic,” Trump told reporters as he returned to Washington from his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida.
“They owe us a lot of money, and I’m sure they’re going to pay.”
The US president has previously threatened a further wave of tariffs against the European Union, warning of a blanked 20 per cent tax on all foreign goods, including from the UK.
Critics say the Republican president’s plan to impose 25% tariffs on Canada and Mexico and 10% tariffs on China will slow global growth and drive prices higher for Americans.
Trump says they are needed to curb immigration and narcotics trafficking and spur domestic industries.
“We may have short term some little pain, and people understand that. But long term, the United States has been ripped off by virtually every country in the world,” he said.
Trump’s tariffs will cover almost half of all US imports and would require the United States to more than double its own manufacturing output to cover the gap – an unfeasible task in the near term, ING analysts wrote.
“Economically speaking, escalating trade tensions are a lose-lose situation for all countries involved,” the analysts wrote in a note on Sunday.
Other analysts said the tariffs could throw Canada and Mexico into recession and usher in “stagflation” – high inflation, stagnant economic growth and elevated unemployment – at home.
With agencies
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