The British government is not yet considering the possibility of introducing retaliatory tariffs against the US. This was stated by the head of the British Ministry of Finance Rachel Reeves in an interview with the television channel Sky News.
„At this point, we are not in a position to take any action that would escalate these trade wars. A trade war benefits no one. Ultimately, this will lead to higher prices for consumers, pushing up inflation despite all our efforts to limit it, and it will also make it more difficult for British companies to export," the minister said. "We are determined to secure better trading relations with the US and next week will be important. There will be a new round of negotiations today, so let's see where we get to in the coming days. On February 10, he imposed a 25% tariff on all steel and aluminum imports, a decision that took effect on March 12.
On March 4, the US administration imposed a 25% tariff on almost all imports from Canada and Mexico and raised tariffs on goods from China from 10% to 20%. On March 6, Trump signed executive orders to postpone until April 2 the imposition of 25% import tariffs on goods from Canada and Mexico that fall under the trilateral trade agreement. He indicated that there would be no such relief after that date.
Brussels expects the US to announce the introduction of 20% tariffs on all imports from EU countries next week. The European Commission is preparing countermeasures against a similar move by Washington.