U.S. chief trade adviser Peter Navarro accused the U.K. of being a “compliant servant of communist China” at risk of having its “blood sucked” by Beijing.
Navarro, who has been advising U.S. President Donald Trump on tariffs, said in an interview with the Telegraph published Sunday that the British government should resist “string-laden gifts” from Beijing as it risks becoming a “dumping ground” for goods that China can no longer sell to the United States.
Shipments of Chinese goods to the U.S. are already falling after Washington imposed tariffs of up to 145 percent on many Chinese products, meaning Beijing is searching for other markets for its goods.
Britain’s Chancellor Rachel Reeves and Foreign Secretary David Lammy have both visited China in recent months as part of the Labour government’s “pragmatic re-engagement” with Beijing.
Chinese fast-fashion giant Shein has also been eyeing London for its controversial IPO and Reeves recently said the British capital was the “natural home” for China’s money.
“Beware of authoritarian mercantilist regimes bearing gifts,” Navarro said.
Navarro, one of the few officials to survive Trump’s entire first term, is a long-term critic of China and is the driving force behind the bid to isolate Beijing and return manufacturing to the U.S.
Despite Labour ministers’ visits to China, the U.K. government’s relationship with Beijing appears to have become cooler in recent weeks.
It has forced Chinese company Jingye to give up control of British Steel, launched a review into the tax rules fueling e-commerce giants like Temu and Shein, and moved to ban solar panels linked to forced labor in Xinjiang from state-backed energy projects.
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