Ministers still focused on US trade deal

MINISTERS will continue to focus on getting a trade deal with the US, despite an adviser to Donald Trump claiming it would be “extraordinary” for any country to get a lower tariff rate than 10%.

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Kevin Hassett, a senior economic adviser to the US President, suggested the blanket 10% tariff rate most countries now face was likely to be a “baseline”.

A snap announcement of a 90-day pause on reciprocal tariffs means traders importing to America from across the world now face the 10% rate - apart from China, which has been singled out for massive levies.