Starmer Brussels Visit Overshadowed by Tariffs
Sir Keir Starmer is in Brussels today as the first UK Prime Minister to join an EU meeting since brexit.
The meeting, at palais d’Egmont, is the Informal EU Leaders Retreat which will centre discussions around defence.
Starmer is looking to call for greater support to the ongoing war in Ukraine.
However, this meeting is set to be overshadowed by Donald Trump’s threat of tariffs being introduced for UK and EU imports.
Trump took aim at the EU while speaking with reporters at Joint Base Andrews last night: “They’ve really taken advantage of us.
“We have over 300-billion-dollar deficit, they don’t take our cars, they don’t take our farm products, they take almost nothing and we take everything from them, millions of cars, tremendous amounts of food and farm products.”
The UK is still at risk of these tariffs too but Trump believes a deal can be struck between the two countries.
The prospect of tariffs has had an effect on UK finances, with the FTSE 100 dropping one point four percent since markets opened.
The EU has already responded, with Kaja Kallas, the EU foreign policy head, saying that “there are no winners in trade wars.”
