'Securing US trade deal should be No1 priority'

Chancellor warned ahead of crunch talks in Washington

- By Katie Harris and David Williamson

BUDDYING up to Brussels could destroy Britain’s chances of a trade deal with America, Rachel Reeves was warned yesterday.

The Chancellor was told by the Tories that securing a US deal should be her top priority.

She is today set to hold crunch talks with her US counterpart in Washington, Scott Bessent, as the Government pushes for an agreement to reduce the impact of Donald Trump’s tariffs.

Yesterday she was at the IMF spring meetings — where she had talks with Valdis Dombrovskis, vice president of the European Commission, German finance minister Joerg Kukies and Canadian finance minister Francois-Philippe Champagne.

Senior opposition MPs say Britain’s future prosperity relies on a successful outcome of her meeting in America — and “getting too close to the EU” could ruin a US deal.

'The US economy has doubled in 15 years. A deal with America is a very big prize'