Stand up to Donald Trump steel tariffs threat, urges Ed Davey

Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey has urged the UK to hit back against the US if Donald Trump slaps tariffs on British steel and aluminium exports.

The UK has so far declined to join the EU and Canada in threatening immediate retaliation if a planned 25% import tax comes into force next month.

But Sir Ed said “sitting back and hoping Trump won’t hurt us just isn’t going to work”, adding the UK needed to negotiate “from a position of strength”.

Speaking at Prime Minister’s Questions, Sir Keir Starmer said ministers were conducting a “level-headed assessment of the implications”.

“But we will always put our national interest first, and steelworkers first,” the prime minister added.

The tariffs, set to apply from 12 March, would mean any steel or aluminium product entering the US from abroad would be hit with an import tax worth 25% of its value.

Around 10% of British steel exports are sent to the US, and industry body UK Steel says the tariffs pose “huge ramifications” for the sector.

The taxes are thought to pose a particular threat to British suppliers of specialist products, for whom trade with the US is comparatively more important.

Leaders in Europe and Canada have been explicit that they would retaliate with counter-measures if the tariffs are imposed.

But the UK government has avoided saying specifically how it would respond, as it tries to walk a diplomatic tightrope between maintaining good relations with the US and pursuing a “reset” in relations with the EU.

Earlier this week, UK ambassador to the US Lord Mandelson said he was “concerned” about the possibility of tariffs, but warned against “overreacting”.

Speaking at PMQs, Sir Ed said Trump needed “reminding” of who America’s “true” allies were, noting that Britons and Canadians had fought alongside US soldiers during World War Two.

He added that the US president and tech mogul Elon Musk, who is advising him, “need to hear strong measures and words, from even their allies”.

In a press release afterwards, he accused the government of allowing Trump and Musk to “ride roughshod over UK interests”.

He said plans for retaliatory tariffs should begin with “Tesla tariffs” to hit Musk, the boss of the electric carmaker, “where it hurts”.

He added: “The only way we can tackle Trump and Musk is by negotiating from a position of strength and showing that the UK will not be bullied from across the pond”.

It marks the latest time Sir Ed has brought up the US president at PMQs, in an apparent sign the Lib Dem leader believes there is space in the British political market for a strongly anti-Trump party.

He has mentioned Trump or Musk – who called the Lib Dem leader a “snivelling cretin” last month – in each of his six previous appearances at the weekly scrutiny session in the House of Commons.