Visit by Jonathan Reynolds comes ahead of Trump’s next round of tariffs slated for April 2.
LONDON — Britain’s trade chief is expected to start hammering out a trade deal with U.S. President Donald Trump’s team in Washington next week.
The hope is a deal would get the U.K. out from under Trump’s looming tariffs after British industry was hit early Wednesday by Trump’s 25 percent global levies on steel and aluminum.
Trump said he wanted to strike “a real trade deal where the tariffs wouldn’t be necessary” when Prime Minister Keir Starmer visited him in the White House last month.
In parliament Wednesday, Starmer said the U.K. is “negotiating an economic deal which covers and will include tariffs if we succeed.” But the U.K. — which has so far avoided retaliation on Trump’s metals tariffs — will “will keep all options on the table,” he said.
“We are focused on a pragmatic approach and are rapidly negotiating a wider economic agreement with the U.S. to eliminate additional tariffs and to benefit U.K. businesses and our economy,” Reynolds said soon after Trump’s metal tariffs took effect.
“Next week you can expect the business secretary to go to Washington to discuss the wider economic deal,” a No. 10 spokesperson told reporters Wednesday. “Getting the right deal is the most important thing, and we’ll be working towards that,” they added.
The visit comes shortly ahead of Trump’s next round of tariffs planned for April 2. The expected package of global “reciprocal” tariffs will mean US tariffs on goods will rise to match the level of tariffs in countries like the U.K.
Reynolds has held regular conversations with U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick to discuss the deal and Trump’s tariff threats, with the two speaking on several calls over the past three weeks. Reynolds will “progress those discussions” with Lutnick, the No. 10 spokesperson said.
Britain’s ambassador to Washington D.C., Peter Mandelson, has been leading work on a tech-led “MEGA” (Make our Economies Great Again) deal with the administration since arriving in Washington early last month.
