Starmer urged to seek more reliable allies than Trump

Sir Keir Starmer has been warned he must accelerate cooperation with other leading economies in the wake of Donald Trump’s capitulation over tariffs.

- KATE DEVLIN MILLIE COOKE

The US president was forced to announce he would delay for 90 days all import fees higher than 10 per cent after a fire sale of US government bonds – market turmoil that he dismissed yesterday as “transition problems”.

But he made an exception for China, against whom he raised tariffs to a total of 145 per cent as Beijing showed no sign of backing down.

Economists warned the prime minister must now look to other allies to stabilise the economy as the events of the past week showed the US was “not a reliable” trade partner.

A former adviser to Rachel Reeves told The Independent there was “some relief” at the president’s U-turn.

But Jim O’Neill, himself a former Treasury minister, said the UK could not isolate itself from the effects of the trade war between the US and China. He added: “Fifty per cent of all global growth and 55 per cent of all global demand since 2000 has come from [the US and China] alone. So while there is some relief, the idea that the damage is behind us is kind of naive.”

He called on the UK to “accelerate... working increasingly closely with key G7 allies”, which make up some of the most advanced economies in the world, to cut tariffs within the group, especially on services instead of goods, where they have an advantage.