LONDON — The British government on Wednesday refused to rule out lowering tariffs on U.S. automotive imports as part of a trade deal with Donald Trump’s administration.
The U.S. government is consulting on the terms of a potential trade deal with the U.K., including pushing for British tariffs on U.S. vehicles to be lowered from 10 percent to 2.5 percent, according to a Wall Street Journal report on Tuesday night.
The publication said Washington is also pushing the U.K. to relax rules on agricultural imports from the U.S., including beef, and to revise rules of origin for goods from each nation.
A spokesperson for the U.K. prime minister was tight-lipped when questioned about the reports Wednesday afternoon.
“We’re having trade talks with the U.S. to seek to reduce barriers to trade between the U.K. and the U.S. so I’m not going to get ahead of those talks,” they told reporters. “But obviously we’re having constructive discussions with the U.S.”
However, the spokesperson stressed that animal food standards were a “red line” for U.K. negotiators, suggesting the U.K. would not back down on a ban on imports of hormone-treated beef.
The reports come as U.K. Chancellor Rachel Reeves kicks off a three-day visit to Washington D.C. for the International Monetary Fund’s Spring talks, where she is expected to meet U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, now U.S. President Donald Trump’s go-to trade negotiator.
British officials are prioritizing efforts to negotiate down the 25 percent tariffs on cars, steel and aluminum, and looming duties on pharmaceuticals, imposed by the Trump administration.
Speaking last night, Reeves said she would “stand up for Britain’s national interest.”
Asked about negotiations in the House of Commons on Wednesday, Prime Minister Keir Starmer said the U.K. would negotiate “in the national interest and uphold the highest animal welfare standards.”
Shadow Trade Secretary Andrew Griffith told POLITICO a deal with the U.S. would be “welcome as British businesses like automotive badly need tariffs reduced.”
“Let’s hope there is an all singing, all dancing deal coming to delight British business,” he added.
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