Trump tariffs live: Starmer vows to protect UK businesses from ‘storm’ US tariffs will bring

The prime minister has been “clear that he’s unhappy” about the new US tariffs, a Labour minister has said.

Watch Darren Jone’s comments here:

The prime minister has been “clear that he’s unhappy” about the new US tariffs, a Labour minister has said.

Chief secretary to the Treasury Darren Jones told Sky News’s Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips programme that the UK is “not happy” about the levies.

Asked about comments from Donald Trump last week in which he suggested Sir Keir Starmer was “very happy” with the UK’s tariff treatment, Mr Jones said: “Keir has been clear that he’s unhappy about the tariffs.”

He also said the Prime Minister is “broadly unhappy about tariffs in what was a well-functioning global trading system.”

Mr Jones added: “I suspect what’s being referred to there is the fact that the United Kingdom had the lowest tariff, and puts us in a much stronger position than other complex, large economies, which we think was a vindication of our engagement with the United States in the run up to the president’s announcements.

“But clearly, we don’t like tariffs; we’re not happy about that.”

Mr Jones also said “there will be further announcements from the Prime Minister this week on support for British business” in the wake of the tariffs.

Darren Jones said the UK had been “treated differently to the European Union” as a result of Brexit.

Asked if the lower 10 per cent tariff imposed by the US was a “Brexit dividend”, the chief secretary to the Treasury told Sky News: “It is, there’s one. I’ve struggled to find one in the past but there is one we’ve ended up with.

“It’s good, but what we’re not going to do is pick or trade off the United States or the European Union.

“I’ve already talked about relationship with the United States, we know that’s important and works well, but so is our relationship with the European Union – on trade, on energy, but increasingly on security, and I think it’s the right strategic decision for the UK, especially in this world that’s chopping and changing around, that we have those strong bridges into the European Union and into the United States, and that’s what we’re working to deliver.”

Labour minister Darren Jones has said that globalisation as we’ve known it has come to an end following the introduction of president Donald Trump’s tariffs.

Speaking to the BBC on Sunday morning, Mr Jones said: “The world is changing. Originally on security and defence…but now in terms of global trade.

“Globalisation as we’ve known it for the last couple of decades has come to an end.”

He added that we need to invest in the UK domestic economy.

Mr Jones added that retaliatory tariffs wouldn’t be good for anyone and he didn’t want the tariff tit-for-tat to escalate.

Prices could increase and staff working hours fall as the rise in employer national insurance contributions (NICs) comes into force on Sunday, ministers have been warned.

The rate of employer NICs will go up by 1.2 percentage points from 13.8 per cet to 15 per cent, and the payments will start when an employee earns £5,000, down from the previous level of £9,100.

The tax increase comes as businesses are also dealing with an 6.7 per cent rise in the minimum wage which came into force last week.

The Conservatives have labelled the change a “jobs tax” while the boss of a hospitality industry group has said the move will have a negative impact on job creation.

Kate Nicholls, chief executive of UKHospitality, said: “The increases to employer national insurance contributions are going to hit businesses and workers right across the UK.

“The impacts will be stark, with hours for staff reduced, trading hours shortened, prices increased and, in the worst case scenario, jobs lost.

“These damaging rises not only hit cherished hospitality venues and communities but the government’s ambition to get people back into work. It needs sectors like hospitality to create the jobs to get people out of the welfare system but these tax rises will have the opposite effect on job creation.”

A trade war with the US “is in no one’s interests” following the announcement of global tariffs, a Labour minister has said.

Darren Jones, the chief secretary to the Treasury, told Sky News’s Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips programme: “Even when there’s a lot going on in the world, and we’ve seen the world changing rapidly in recent months, the UK is a stable country with a clear policy and a strong government.

“We will always act in the interests of the British people and the British economy, and we’ll do so in a calm-headed and considered way.

“We’ve been very clear a trade war is in no one’s interests.

“Evidently, things are happening in the world that we can’t control, but we’re going to do everything we can to make sure that the UK is in as strong and resilient a place as it can be.”

US and Vietnamese businesses have asked the Trump administration to delay its planned 46 per cent tariff on Vietnamese goods, saying the levy will hurt them and bilateral commercial relations.

The Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the American Chamber of Commerce in Hanoi expressed concern to Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick in a letter dated Saturday, saying the tariff, to take effect on Wednesday, was “shockingly high”.

“Lower tariffs for products coming into Vietnam, and for products reaching the American consumer is what will help US companies, the economy, and consumers,” AmCham and VCCI said in a statement. “Higher tariffs will not.”

The Southeast Asian country, a major regional manufacturing base for many Western companies, posted a trade surplus of over $123 billion with the US, its largest export destination, last year.

President Donald Trump and Vietnamese leader To Lam agreed on Friday to discuss a deal to remove tariffs, both said after a phone call that Trump called “very productive”.

Trade unions, who were previously divided over Brexit and still provide more than half of Labour’s campaign funding, are now at the forefront of a new push for much closer ties with the EU.

Armed with a survey by pollster Peter McLeod – who has carried out research for Labour and the unions – the Trades Union Congress (TUC) has joined with business groups and others to urge Sir Keir to rethink his Brexit red lines.

While the prime minister has insisted he will resist what he calls “a false choice” between the EU and US, the TUC’s public demands are being reflected in private by many in Labour as well.

Prime minister Sir Keir Starmer has vowed to make the UK economy less exposed to global shocks.

Sir Keir has said that his immediate priority is “to keep calm and fight for the best deal”. He added: “Nobody wins from a trade war. The economic consequences, here and across the globe, could be profound.

“We already have a balanced trading relationship with our American allies and work continues on a new economic prosperity deal. Nonetheless, all options remain on the table”.

Sir Keir promised to make the case for “free and open trade” and also take action at home to “turbocharge plans that will improve our domestic competitiveness, so we’re less exposed to these kinds of global shocks”.

If you are just joining our coverage of Trump’s tariffs in the UK, here’s a recap of what the prime minister has said overnight.

Writing in the Sunday Telegraph, Sir Keir Starmer has vowed to “use industrial policy to help shelter British business from the storm” of president Donald Trump’s tariffs.

Mr Trump has imposed a “baseline” 10 per cent tariff on the UK, as well as a 25 per cent tariff on cars and car parts.

This has already caused disruption in the UK car industry, with Jaguar Land Rover announcing yesterday that they would pause shipments to the US in April as they assess the impact of tariffs.