US tariffs: UK being ‘supine’ and should ‘retaliate’, Lord Rose urges government
The UK has been “supine” to US President Donald Trump and should be “firm” and “find some way to retaliate”, Lord Rose has said.
The businessman and former boss of M&S and Asda told Times Radio the government has been “supine” to President Trump and should be “firm” in threatening retaliatory tariffs.
He said it’s “quite sad” that the UK is “sitting there with our little begging bowl” in the hope that Trump goes easy on us.
The US President is expected to unveil sweeping tariffs at an event at the White House around 9pm UK time, in a move he has dubbed ‘liberation day’.
Ministers are still hopeful of securing a deal with the US that would protect the UK from the import taxes, but Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer acknowledged “the likelihood is there will be tariffs” on UK exports, and Chancellor Rachel Reeves has said it would have an “impact”.
Economists at the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) have warned US tariffs could eliminate Reeves’s fiscal headroom against her debt target, requiring more spending cuts or tax rises to meet her economic rules, as well as shrinking the economy by one per cent.
While analysis from the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) suggested tariffs on car imports would put 25,000 UK jobs at risk and “completely destabilise the UK car industry”.
UK being ‘supine’ – Rose
Speaking to the broadcaster, Lord Rose was critical of the government’s approach, stating: “I think we have been supine.
“Businesses like to have a vision. Businesses like to know where they’re going. Businesses like to plan, and businesses like to therefore make the investments following all of those plans.
“And at the moment, whether we like the plans or not, we know that the US has a plan. We know, interestingly enough, China’s got a plan. We know Russia’s got a plan, and we might not like that. And we know certainly the EU’s got a plan. Well, what do we stand for today?”
He added: “I want to look forwards, and I think the people in the UK PLC want to look forwards as well. They want certainty, and they want confidence.”
Asked if the UK was powerless to respond, Lord Rose insisted: “If you believe that sort of a mantra, I’m afraid we’re all finished. We all have power to change anything.”
He advised Starmer: “I think we should be quite firm and say, ‘listen, guys, we believe in free market economics’. We have actually got a situation here where our trade is relatively balanced.
“We clearly don’t want to be unfairly hit, and if you do hit us, I’m afraid we are going to, reluctantly but we will do it, retaliate.”
Call to ‘retaliate’
And he added: “It’s quite sad in the 21st century, and I’ve been around a long time, seeing how our relationship has or hasn’t developed with the USA, that we’re sitting there with our little begging bowl, hoping that Trump, because he’s got a Scottish mother, or had a Scottish mother, and he owns a golf club in Scotland, is going to be nice to us.”
He urged the government to strike a more positive note and to say: “Look, guys, it’s a bright, sunny morning this morning… things will be fine. I’m going to do this, this and this and this.
“And if Trump comes and hits me around the head with a wet kipper tonight, I’m going to find some way to retaliate.”
It is unclear what Trump will announce on Wednesday, but his administration views the application of VAT rate as discriminating against US goods and could respond with a 20 per cent tariff on imports from the UK.
He already announced a 25 per cent import tax will be introduced on all cars imported to the US, a blow to the UK’s automotive industry which sent exports worth £7.6bn there last year.
Tariffs on steel and aluminium imports, including from British firms, are already in place.