UK PM Keir Starmer ready to ‘shelter’ businesses from Trump tariff storm
The prime minister says the priority is to get a deal with the US, but state intervention for the worst-hit industries is also on the table
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said on Saturday he was ready to step in to help “shelter” the country’s businesses from the fallout from US President Donald Trump’s new tariff policies, mooting state intervention for the worst-affected industries.
“We stand ready to use industrial policy to help shelter British business from the storm,” Starmer wrote in the Telegraph newspaper.
“Some people may feel uncomfortable about this – the idea the state should intervene directly to shape the market has often been derided.
“But we simply cannot cling on to old sentiments when the world is turning this fast.”
While Starmer said the government’s priority remains to try and secure a trade deal with the US which could include tariff exemptions, he said he will do “everything necessary” to protect the national interest.
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World leaders react to Trump’s new tariff blitz as global trade war escalates
Britain was spared the most punitive treatment in Trump’s tariff announcement on Wednesday when it was hit with the lowest import duty rate of 10 per cent, but a global trade war will hurt its open economy.