Now Trump is targeting the U.K. with tarriffs how should Sir Keir handle a response?

I think Trump isn’t keen on the EU. They’ve charged higher tariffs than us for years (protectionist, much?) and so he’s applying ‘reciprocal tariffs’ accordingly.

Well, that depends on how you present it, doesn't it. According to Murphy (quoted below) the EU doesn't charge tariff on all imports from the US.

The problem with the chart is that it is complete nonsense. Trump has made up numbers and then halved them, and called them the US tariff rate.

For example, the average tariff rate in the EU on US imports is around three per cent, because such charges apply to so few products. That's it. In other words, a reciprocal tariff of three per cent might have been justified. Such tariffs already exist.

www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2025/04/03/will-the-uk-fall-into-trumps-trap/

According to Trump's piece of cardboard - Vietnam apply 90% tariffs. That can't be right can it?

I just can't get over the cardboard list. It's just a random list - not in any order and why on card in this technological age? It's like they gave the job to the office junior and it was the best they could manage.

FriedGreenTomatoes2

PoliticsNerd

FriedGreenTomatoes2

Well 10% for the UK, 20% for the EU.
Put that on the side of a bus. 😁

I can't work it out FGT, and I've no wish to offend but are you backing Trump against your own country?

I back Trump for what he’s trying to do for America.

And I’m grateful for lesser tariffs here than the EU zone. Starmer has a great opportunity here. We do more exporting to the USA than Europe I read earlier.

Trump will certainly do for the USA . In fact we have to do very little as the situation will soon become clear to the citizens of USA. They will learn very quickly to hate tariffs.

GrannyGravy13

Whitewavemark2 I am not sure that you can equate the U.K. leaving the EU with POTUS Trumps current isolationist policies.

POTUS Trump wants Americans to buy more American goods and therefore reboot American manufacturing, he feels the entire world has taken advantage of the USA and it’s time for them to pay their own way.

I’m not equating it as such, I am saying that they were both damaging and ill informed decisions, the outcome of which is plain to see in the U.K. and will soon become obvious in the USA and indeed perhaps the world.

Churchview

FriedGreenTomatoes2

Well 10% for the UK, 20% for the EU.
Put that on the side of a bus. 😁

Makes you wonder what he wants from the UK in return.

It can't just be tea with the King can it?

I think Trump isn’t keen on the EU. They’ve charged higher tariffs than us for years (protectionist, much?) and so he’s applying ‘reciprocal tariffs’ accordingly.

I don’t blame him.

PoliticsNerd

FriedGreenTomatoes2

Well 10% for the UK, 20% for the EU.
Put that on the side of a bus. 😁

I can't work it out FGT, and I've no wish to offend but are you backing Trump against your own country?

I back Trump for what he’s trying to do for America.

And I’m grateful for lesser tariffs here than the EU zone. Starmer has a great opportunity here. We do more exporting to the USA than Europe I read earlier.

FriedGreenTomatoes2

Well 10% for the UK, 20% for the EU.
Put that on the side of a bus. 😁

Makes you wonder what he wants from the UK in return.

It can't just be tea with the King can it?

The Global impact of these tariffs actually means that we don't have anything to be happy about.. everyone in the UK will be negatively affected even though we only have 10% .. a global trade war is going to be catastrophic...

Three things about Trump's 'speech' stood out for me -

Doesn't he ramble on! Good lord it's excruciating.

He now only addresses the media as 'Fake news' as though they are one homogeneous group entirely focused on rubbishing him.

Lastly, the guy, with all the tech bros on speed dial, had his tariff list on a piece of board that looked like the menu in a greasy spoon.

But we have tariffs on America? Also the tariffs Trump has imposed on some countries have double what he is now charging.

Whitewavemark2 I am not sure that you can equate the U.K. leaving the EU with POTUS Trumps current isolationist policies.

POTUS Trump wants Americans to buy more American goods and therefore reboot American manufacturing, he feels the entire world has taken advantage of the USA and it’s time for them to pay their own way.

Yes but I’m not sure of your point.

Globalisation of the world economy does not just mean simple buying and trading, it means the integration of the means of production, where traders cooperate in producing goods for the market throughout the entire world. This will include an entire gamut of parts in order to produce a completed article.

Where there are free trade agreements as we find in the EU (which is complete and extensive, including freedom of the movement of goods, people and capital - all involved in producing goods) and between other countries there is relative frictionless trade, but Trump wants to stop this, become isolationist and will live to regret it pretty quickly - just as we have done.

Whitewavemark2 The countries our family member visits are all outside of the EU.

Global means just that, there are more countries outside the EU block than there are within it.

GrannyGravy13

growstuff exactly.

We have a close family member who works in the auto industry, spends a lot of time flying abroad overseeing production line efficiency, components come from all over the globe nowadays.

And that is why brexiting made life more difficult, but no one would listen, and it doesn’t just relate to the car industry. This is what is meant by a global economy. You only have to look at the data retained by HMRC to know this.

Our economy looses 15% year on year as a result of Brexit, and Trump will find a similar lose because of his action.

Trump will soon see the results if his changes in his own country. Everywhere he goes Musk is behind him along with his tiny mini Musk attached like a puppet. They look a joke but it's really happening, I wonder if Trump has dementia!

growstuff exactly.

We have a close family member who works in the auto industry, spends a lot of time flying abroad overseeing production line efficiency, components come from all over the globe nowadays.

glasshalffullagain

Pantglas2

FriedGreenTomatoes2

Well 10% for the UK, 20% for the EU.
Put that on the side of a bus. 😁

Just bumping this as it made me laugh out loud 😂

Hilarious, really. Some funny things have apppeared on the side of buses haven't they?

And just like Brexit, Trump will very quickly come to realise what an ill informed error he has made to the detriment of the USA economy.

Absolutely no one will gain from this decision as we who Brexited can tell the USA.

GrannyGravy13

growstuff you are correct, sorry.

I read quickly whilst cooking GS’s breakfast.

The UK exports four out of five cars manufactured here worldwide.

No problem.

That sounds about right.

It's more complicated than that though because these days cars are assembled from parts made in other countries. It's not too difficult for manufacturers to change the actual place of final production.

GrannyGravy13

Four out of five cars manufactured in UK are exported to USA according to Google…

I doubt 80% go to US but a lot do, if the car tariff is 25% that will make a difference. Because sales taxes (VAT) are much less in the US cars cost less than the UK, with cheaper fuel too a luxury car costs far less to buy and run in the US.

growstuff you are correct, sorry.

I read quickly whilst cooking GS’s breakfast.

The UK exports four out of five cars manufactured here worldwide.

GrannyGravy13

Four out of five cars manufactured in UK are exported to USA according to Google…

I don't think that's right.

www.statista.com/statistics/298970/destination-of-cars-exported-from-the-united-kingdom/#:~:text=The%20European%20Union%20is%20the,member%20states%20of%20the%20EU.

"The European Union is the main export destination for passenger cars exported by the United Kingdom. In 2023, 57.6 percent of the cars sold by UK-based manufacturers went to member states of the EU. Total exports by the UK to the EU were valued at around 46.2 million British pounds in the fourth quarter of that same year, and the EU is one of its most important trading partners. In recent years the discrepancy between exports and imports has exacerbated the UK’s negative trade balance with the EU."

Four out of five cars manufactured in UK are exported to USA according to Google…

NotSpaghetti

Yes, GrannyGravy13 25% on all cars imported to USA from anywhere.

The trouble is, American cars have never been thought well of in Europe so whatever he does we are not going to suddenly start importing them now.

But extra tax on Californian wine does mean I'll buy wines from elsewhere unless I really want a specific one.

Rich Americans are rather fond of UK luxury cars, Rolls Royce, Bentley, Aston Martin etc.

They may not be wholly British owned, but they remain status symbols.

PoliticsNerd

FriedGreenTomatoes2

Well 10% for the UK, 20% for the EU.
Put that on the side of a bus. 😁

I can't work it out FGT, and I've no wish to offend but are you backing Trump against your own country?

Maybe Trump thinks King Charles won't invite him if he upsets the UK too much. I seriously wonder if Trump himself knows why.

FriedGreenTomatoes2

Well 10% for the UK, 20% for the EU.
Put that on the side of a bus. 😁

I can't work it out FGT, and I've no wish to offend but are you backing Trump against your own country?