Niesr report on tariffs: Ministers should not “bow down” to Trump and should negotiate from position of strength

EMBARGO: 00.01 Wednesday 12th February

Responding to a report by the National Institute of Economic and Social Research which suggested that GDP growth was likely to be 0.2% lower in the first year of tariffs if they were confirmed, Liberal Democrat Treasury spokesperson Daisy Cooper MP said:

“Trump’s pursuit of a global trade war will clobber our stagnating economy and make it even harder to rebuild our already broken public services.

“Ministers cannot just bury their heads in the sand and refuse to face up to reality. We have to deal with Trump from a position of strength but so far Ministers, the Conservatives and Nigel Farage have all bowed down to him.

“The only way we can tackle Trump is to show him that we have other options and that starts by negotiating a bespoke UK-EU Customs Union to bring down trade barriers, cut red tape and get our economy growing again.”

ENDS