BBC:
Donald Trump has been unclear about whether he will impose tariffs on the UK but economists warn there are still ways Britain could be negatively affected by the president’s wider trade policies even if it avoids being hit directly.
The impact could be felt through slower growth in some of the UK’s important trading partners. Industrial exports could be diverted from the US and flood the UK market and there could be impacts on our financial markets, including a possible increase to borrowing costs.
Asked about future tariffs, Trump told the BBC on Sunday night: “The UK is way out of line but I’m sure that one… I think that one can be worked out.”
The president did not specify in which way he regarded the UK as being “out of line”.
One of the justifications Trump has given for imposing tariffs on countries is they have a trade surplus with the US – in other words they sell more to the US than they import from America.
He has claimed these trade surpluses amount to “massive subsidies that we’re giving to Canada and to Mexico”.
The tariffs on Mexico were paused for a month by Trump on Monday but the president has complained about unbalanced trade with the EU, saying on Sunday: “They don’t take our cars, they don’t take our farm products, they take almost nothing and we take everything from them. Millions of cars, tremendous amounts of food and farm products.”
So one way the UK might be seen to be out of line in the mind of Trump – and at risk of tariffs – is if Britain was also running a trade surplus with America.
