The UK should have been doing everything possible to secure an exemption from Trump’s tariffs. We could have scrapped the digital services tax that is largely levied on the American tech giants. We could have opened our agricultural markets – even to chlorinated chicken. Heck, we could have offered President Trump his own apartment in Buckingham Palace, given how much he loves the royal family. This was the opportunity of the decade – but the Starmer government has already blown it.
We will find out the full extent of the tariffs Trump plans to levy on all of America’s main trading partners tomorrow on what he has oddly termed ‘Liberation Day’. Given how chaotic the White House often is, the final details are probably still being worked out.
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