Trade wars - how will it effect the UK?

Barleyfields

Unfortunately Maizie there are, as you know only too well, a great many who have been brainwashed into thinking that there is a huge hole to be filled by taxation and that the country has no money other than tax receipts. I imagine they happily go along with the Reeves philosophy that managing the economy is exactly the same as managing a household budget because it’s something they can identify with. They won’t change the minds that have been made up for them any time soon.

🗸 🗸 🗸

😄😄

Whitewavemark2

😄😄😄 I’m game!

It could be a tin roof for a wanabee tin-pot dictator. 😂

😄😄😄 I’m game!

Unfortunately Maizie there are, as you know only too well, a great many who have been brainwashed into thinking that there is a huge hole to be filled by taxation and that the country has no money other than tax receipts. I imagine they happily go along with the Reeves philosophy that managing the economy is exactly the same as managing a household budget because it’s something they can identify with. They won’t change the minds that have been made up for them any time soon.

Trump has said the UK is "out of line" (in one of those "off the cuff remarks") but not how.

I don't see why we should let him bully and manipulate us.

found on a friends page on Facebook

"'How about Canada building a wall, Mexico building one, and the rest of the world chipping in for a lid?'

^ And KS has the most difficult job to do- empty coffers,^

We do not have 'empty coffers'. We have a central bank that we own and which could provide us with a completely no strings attached overdraft if ordered by the government to do so.

We had supposedly 'empty coffers' after WW2 but still manged to implement the NHS, a comprehensive welfare system and nationalise various industries. After which we embarked on a period of growth and declining inequality.

There is no reason, apart from government cowardice and its capture by the interests of the wealthy and big business, why we can't invest in the sectors we need to improve the quality of life for all citizens and kick start the growth the government keeps promising us...

The UK is in a most precarious position- floating in isolation between the EU and the USA, adrift. And KS has the most difficult job to do- empty coffers, and will have to try and make the very best of the above. There is a chance he will pull it off- but Trump is unlikely to allow him/us, to get the best of both worlds and win on both sides. If we get a good deal with the USA, Trump will make us choose, that is for sure.

Sovereignty, they said. !

Whitewavemark2

The fact is we are European. We share cultures and history.

I remember a guy in the Pub telling me 'I am pure Anglo-Saxon me' and I replied 'ah German, Dutch or Danish or a mixture'. He didn't like it!

We are all a mix, some more than others. Celts, Romans, Anglo-saxons and Vikings, Normans, Huguenots, and so much more. That is what makes us adaptable, gives us good genes and tolerance- well it used to until very recently.

Rula

All this just depends if you have a deep loathing of Trump, as do many people do. On GN anyway.

I don't think much of him at all.

However, for those that support Trump, this is easily seen as a win for him.

What we're seeing in the western world is the slow death of the left. Happening all over Europe.

Maybe time to adjust to this new normal.

Maybe time to adjust to this new normal.

For those of us of a more centrist mindset, that will be difficult.

A dominant Right or Left is not good groundwork for building on or maintaining democracy.

Talking of 'norms', I can't express it any better than Nesrine Malik writing in The Guardian:

"Even optically, Trump’s alliances with tech billionaires is crude and visible, but it mirrors the billionaires and influencers who flocked to Kamala Harris’s campaign, more of whom publicly backed her than Trump. Biden continued the practice of previous presidents, Republican and Democrat, of tapping up super-rich donors for ambassadorial positions before Trump made the quid pro quo explicit with his cabinet of billionaires. And even the liberal argument that Trump’s mere temperament, character and disposition is self-disqualifying runs up against the fact of his predecessor. Biden’s stubborn clinging on to power, and people being asked to ignore their very eyes and ears as his capacities faded, proved that contempt for the public’s intelligence is not the preserve of the right."

For those who believe The Guardian is a left-wing scourge - I recommend the op-ed piece by the above columnist, it is as balanced a piece of writing as you are likely to see anywhere. She is, basically, saying that Trump is only building on what is already there...

All this just depends if you have a deep loathing of Trump, as do many people do. On GN anyway.

I don't think much of him at all.

However, for those that support Trump, this is easily seen as a win for him.

What we're seeing in the western world is the slow death of the left. Happening all over Europe.

Maybe time to adjust to this new normal.

One aspect of the agreement with Mexico that hasn’t been mentioned on here is that, according to the Mexican president, Trump promised to deal with the flow of guns from the US to Mexico. Mexico apparently has very strict gun laws which make them difficult to obtain. So it is illegally sourced US guns which are empowering the Mexican drug cartels. The US is partially contributing to its fentanyl problem.

It will be interesting to see if Trump keeps his ‘promise’… (if I were the Mexican President I wouldn’t trust him any further than I can spit, as the saying goes)

Has achieved nothing, lost a lot of good will, and soft power built up over the years has taken a real hammering.

Who, but an idiot is going to allow integration with USA into their systems, with Musk in the driving seat? It is a massive risk to do so.

Wyllow3

rula if you read the Trump thread you will read that the so called "concessions" made by Mexico and Canada were already in the pipeline (Publicly so, as in military on borders). Trump didnt have to threaten.

He settled quickly as the financial markets were threatened with freefall.

He's a mouthy bully.

Ironically, Trudeau is now more popular than he has been for some time.

The spectacle of the big match and usually respectful Canadians Booing the US national anthem will not go away.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=mZTvivK-dbs

He settled quickly as the financial markets were threatened with freefall.

Yes, I think it had a lot to do with the market slide.

Casdon

Obviously people who don’t read the Independent and the Guardian pretend they aren’t European, in the face of the evidence - oh well.

And here you go again casting aspersions…..🤨

rula if you read the Trump thread you will read that the so called "concessions" made by Mexico and Canada were already in the pipeline (Publicly so, as in military on borders). Trump didnt have to threaten.

He settled quickly as the financial markets were threatened with freefall.

He's a mouthy bully.

Ironically, Trudeau is now more popular than he has been for some time.

The spectacle of the big match and usually respectful Canadians Booing the US national anthem will not go away.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=mZTvivK-dbs

I’d hazard a guess that their own presidents are 100% more popular in their own countries right now than Trump is Rula. In what respect do you think threats of tariffs have worked exactly, do you think that relationships with the rest of the world and trust in the USA will improve as a result?

An understatement.
As bad as Macron in France.

He's paused the tariff due to both Mexico and Canada agreeing to send thousands of soldiers to the border.

Seems like threats of tariffs work.

As for Justin. He's hardly Mr Popular in Canada.

Freya5

Casdon

pascal30

FriedGreenTomatoes2

We in the UK are all ‘part of Europe’! Geographically we stand within it….

The inept Starmer will find a way to botch our enviable advantage with Trump because it will mean admitting a Brexit bonus. 😁

I'd warrant that a great number pf people within the UK don't see themselves as part of Europe.. whatever the geographical reality

I’d warrant that a much higher proportion of the UK population see themselves as part of Europe than see themselves as a tool of the USA.

I see myself neither a tool of this Gov, the EU or the US. I think you are making a huge generalisation of the UK population. Maybe be right amongst Guardian and Independant readers I suppose.

According to current data, the EU is significantly more valuable to the UK for trade than the US, as the EU remains the UK's largest trading partner, accounting for a much larger share of the UK's total trade compared to the US; this is largely due to geographical proximity and deep economic integration between the UK and the EU member states.

Also, significantly more Brits choose to holiday in Europe than the USA - over 75% of British trips abroad are to European countries.

If this is true, then it makes sense to have a good working relationship with the EU - regardless of Brexit and regardless of whichever government is in power.

The previous government appeared to want an antagonistic relationship; insinuating that the EU was being 'difficult' when it insisted on third-country rules - which apply to any country, yet so many people believed they were ^punishing us for leaving.

This sentiment is still being pushed by the right-wing press. How many times have you read about Brits not being welcome in this or that European resort - only to discover that the resentment was against all tourists, not specifically 'Brits' at all?

It's all so obvious and so pointless. But, of course, it works. And the resentment against the EU continues...

Tariffs now paused with Canada as well. Wonder if the reputation damage has dawned on them yet. I suspect a lot of people will be quietly boycotting American goods now.

Completely off topic, but I do wish the mods would correct the title of this thread. It makes ne wince every time I read it.

If OP were to come back I'd ask her to get the mods to change it...🙏

FriedGreenTomatoes2

True Casdon it was a poor example. But my point still stands. Much as we might not like it, America voted Trump in, knowing what he planned. A man of his word. He will put America First. Sorry for everyone else.

I very much doubt if many of those voting for Trump really knew what he planned or what it meant. He kept saying he would Make America Great Again and promised tarriffs as a means of controlling countries he didn't like, ut did the American Trump supporter ubderstand that high tarriffs feed inflation making everything they buy more expensive? I have my doubts. He also plans to scrap free medical care, I think when the Trump voter sees what Trump is going to do to their standard of living, medical care etc, they might have a rethink.

Obviously people who don’t read the Independent and the Guardian pretend they aren’t European, in the face of the evidence - oh well.

The fact is we are European. We share cultures and history.