Reeves plays down hopes of quick trade deal with US as she arrives in Washington

Rachel Reeves has dashed hopes of an early breakthrough in trade talks with the Trump administration, stressing the UK is "not going to rush" a deal.

- Heather Stewart Washington Kiran Stacey

Speaking before her first face-to-face meeting with the US Treasury secretary, Scott Bessent, in which she was expected to lobby him to reduce tariffs, the chancellor said negotiations would take time.

"We're not going to rush a deal. We want to get the right deal that's in our national interest, and those talks are ongoing," she said.

Asked about her discussions with Bessent - the first time the pair will be meeting face to face - Reeves said: "We're not going to be, I don't think, discussing the intricacies of autos and food standards."

Instead, she said they would be talking about "how we can build on the trade relationship that we have".

The UK has already offered concessions to the US in the hopes of getting tariffs cut - including reducing the digital services tax on tech giants.

Reeves travelled to Washington for the spring meetings of the IMF with hopes of securing a carve-out from the 25% levies on cars, aluminium and steel.

Car industry bosses have warned that job losses are weeks away in Britain's premium automotive sector unless the UK can secure a deal to shield the likes of Jaguar Land Rover, Rolls-Royce, Bentley, Aston Martin and McLaren from tariffs.

It is unclear whether an exemption from the 10% base tariff that Donald Trump has levied on all imports is on the table. But hopes of an early agreement were undermined yesterday by a leaked document setting out new US demands.