Lammy warns Trump against ‘hurting’ allies with tariffs plan

Foreign Secretary says raising levies on foreign goods would not be in ‘medium or long-term interests’ of the US

David Lammy has warned Donald Trump against “hurting” allies of the US with import tariffs.
The Foreign Secretary said raising levies on foreign goods would not be in the “medium or long-term interests” of the US in an apparent swipe at the president-elect’s protectionist agenda.
He also signalled that Mr Trump is unlikely to undertake a state visit to the UK within the next 12 months, saying such events “take a while to organise”.
Attempts to organise a state visit to Britain during Mr Trump’s previous presidency were met by a backlash, with the Labour leadership of the time calling it a waste of taxpayers’ money.
During the election campaign, Mr Trump promised that he would increase tariffs on US imports as part of a plan to shield domestic firms from competition.
Asked whether he would seek to ensure that there were no extra tariffs imposed on UK goods, Mr Lammy told the BBC’s Newscast: “We will seek to ensure and to get across to the United States – and I believe that they would understand this – that hurting your closest allies cannot be in your medium or long-term interests, whatever the pursuit of public policy in relation to some of the problems posed by China.”
Asked whether the Government would seek a special trading arrangement with the US to avoid the extra charges being imposed on UK exports, he said: “Well, when the Biden administration pursued their Inflation Reduction Act and indeed their Chips Act, and the UK and other partners were cut out of that or were not engaged in that, there was some criticism both publicly and privately about that.
“So of course, we would seek, with a new administration, to ensure that as a major ally we were aligned and we were considered, obviously. That’s in Britain’s national interest. Of course we do that.”
The Inflation Reduction Act was a flagship measure of the Biden administration, intended to wean the US off fossil fuels and widely seen as protectionist because of its focus on domestic infrastructure. The Chips Act aimed to boost US supply chains in the technology sector.
Ed Balls, the former Labour shadow chancellor, warned that Mr Trump’s plan to impose import tariffs could result in a hit to UK economic growth.
He told his Political Currency podcast it was “hard to work out which Donald Trump we’re going to get”.
Mr Balls added: “If you are a closed economy, like America, you can probably put up these barriers and carry on growing and the markets will let an American economy, at least for a while, have this more expansionary fiscal policy.
“Although … the consequence is higher interest rates globally, higher interest rates in American financial markets, potentially the US Federal Reserve taking its inflation target seriously causes quite a lot of grief further down the line for Donald Trump. But it is inflation, and that bite into cost of living, which causes him political problems if you believe he has just won a cost of living election.
“For the rest of the world, it may be more of a growth problem, that actually the impact of a more aggressive trade policy on open economies like the UK, economies which have been struggling to grow – unlike America in the last few years – maybe this is a hit to our growth.”
Asked whether he could see a state visit taking place in the next year, Mr Lammy said: “State visits take a while to organise. So in the next year, I’ve got to tell you, I think that would be a bit of a tall order.
“But he [Mr Trump] was genuine in his respect and his affection for the Royal family. It is always the case that, as head of state, the King plays an important role, and with our closest partner and with an American president coming into office for the second time… we want to be generous with our American friends as they will be, I imagine, with us, particularly in a second term.”
State visits are effectively triggered by the Government, with foreign monarchs, presidents and prime ministers invited to visit the King on the advice of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.
Mr Lammy also acknowledged that there would be foreign policy disagreements between the UK and the US with Mr Trump in the White House.
It comes amid speculation the Republicans could scupper the Chagos Islands deal struck by Sir Keir Starmer as it emerged that Mr Trump supported Britain’s efforts to keep the archipelago when he was previously US president.
The Foreign Secretary said that “on the whole foreign policy is less partisan than domestic policy”, but conceded it was likely that there would be points of contention under the new Trump administration.
“Yes, there will be differences and there will be areas where we disagree, I suspect,” he said. “But there are also opportunities, and we shouldn’t underestimate the opportunities that there will be as well, and we must seize those.”