PM insists UK won’t choose between Europe and the US

Sir Keir Starmer is walking a tightrope” between the US and EU on trade, experts have said after Donald Trump unleashed a global tariff war.

- DAVID MADDOX ANDREW FEINBERG

The prime minister insisted it was not a choice of "either or" as he sat down with EU leaders for dinner last night to launch his post-Brexit reset talks. And trade experts told The Independent there are “reasons to be optimistic” that Britain can land good deals with both Brussels and Washington.

Mr Trump has threatened tariffs against the EU, after announcing plans to impose them on Canada and Mexico. Members of his inner circle have made it clear tariffs could be imposed on Britain, however there were signs of optimism yesterday as Mr Trump said the UK was “out of line” on trade “but I’m sure that one... I think that one can be worked out”.

Hardliners on both sides of the Brexit debate have called on Sir Keir to “choose a side”. But at a Nato news conference ahead of his dinner with EU leaders in Brussels, Sir Keir appeared to almost relish the position of being caught in Mr Trump’s emerging global trade stand-off.

Asked if he was trying to “have a foot in both camps”, the prime minister said: “In relation to the US and the EU, it’s really important that we work with both, and we don’t see it as ‘either or’ on defence and security. We are working very closely with our European allies every day, particularly in Ukraine, but not only in Ukraine, but equally on defence and security with the US with the special relationship. When it comes to trade, equally with a huge amount of trade between the US and the UK, as we have with the EU.”