Starmer to raise Gaza ceasefire and UK steel tariffs in Trump meeting

Independent

5 days ago

Sir Keir Starmer is expected to raise the prospect of reviving ceasefire talks between Israel and Hamas and the future of tariffs on British steel as he meets Donald Trump in Scotland.
The Prime Minister will travel to Ayrshire, where the US president is staying at his Turnberry golf resort, for wide-ranging discussions on trade and the Middle East as international alarm grows over starvation in Gaza.
The two leaders have built a rapport on the world stage despite their differing political backgrounds, with Mr Trump praising Sir Keir for doing a 'very good job' in office ahead of their talks on Monday.
But humanitarian conditions in Gaza and uncertainty over US import taxes on key British goods in America threaten to complicate their bilateral meeting.
Peace talks in the Middle East came to a standstill last week after Washington and Israel recalled negotiating teams from Qatar, with White House special envoy Steve Witkoff blaming Hamas for a 'lack of desire' to reach an agreement.
Since then, Israel has promised military pauses in three populated areas of Gaza to allow designated UN convoys of aid to reach desperate Palestinians.
But the UK, which is joining efforts to airdrop aid into the enclave and evacuate children in need of medical assistance, has said that access to supplies must be 'urgently' widened.
In his talks with Mr Trump, Sir Keir will 'welcome the President's administration working with partners in Qatar and Egypt to bring about a ceasefire in Gaza', Number 10 said.
'He will discuss further with him what more can be done to secure the ceasefire urgently, bring an end to the unspeakable suffering and starvation in Gaza and free the hostages who have been held so cruelly for so long.'
Scotland's First Minister John Swinney, who will also meet the president during his five day visit to the country, said he would urge Mr Trump to apply pressure on Israel to agree to a lasting ceasefire and allow more humanitarian aid into Gaza.
'I think what's important is that we focus on the solutions that are required now, and the absolutely immediate situation is a necessity for a ceasefire and for humanitarian aid to need to flow into Gaza so that the people of Gaza can be saved from the starvation that they face,' Mr Swinney told BBC Breakfast.
'And that is the blunt human reality of the situation that we face, and there must be an intensification of pressure on Israel.
'And I think President Trump is ideally positioned. In fact, he's perhaps uniquely positioned to apply that pressure to Israel to ensure that there is safe passage for humanitarian aid to support the people of Gaza, who face an absolutely unbearable set of circumstances as a consequence of the conflict.
'And a key part of that must be the application of a durable ceasefire, the flow of humanitarian aid and the progress towards a two state solution in the Middle East.'
The Prime Minister and US president will also talk 'one-on-one about advancing implementation of the landmark Economic Prosperity Deal so that Britons and Americans can benefit from boosted trade links between their two countries', it said.
The agreement signed at the G7 summit last month slashed trade barriers on goods from both countries.
But tariffs for the steel industry, which is of key economic importance to the UK, were left to stand at 25% rather than falling to zero as originally agreed.
Concerns had previously been raised that the sector could face a levy of up to 50% – the US's global rate – unless a further agreement was made by July 9, when Mr Trump said he would start implementing import taxes on America's trading partners.
But that deadline has been and gone without any concrete update on the status of UK steel.
Downing Street said that both sides are working 'at pace' to 'go further to deliver benefits to working people on both sides of the Atlantic' and to give UK industry 'the security it needs'.
Mr Swinney said he would use his meeting with President Trump to press him to exempt Scotch whisky from US trade tariffs.
The First Minister said the 'uniqueness' of whisky made in Scotland justified the exemption from the 10% tariff applied on UK exports into the US.
Sir Keir and Mr Trump are also expected to discuss the war in Ukraine, which Number 10 said would include 'applying pressure' on Vladimir Putin to end the invasion, before travelling on together for a private engagement in Aberdeen.
It comes after Mr Trump announced he had agreed 'the biggest deal ever made' between the US and the European Union after meeting Ursula von der Leyen for high-stakes talks at Turnberry on Sunday.
After a day playing golf, the US leader met the President of the EU Commission to hammer out the broad terms of an agreement that will subject the bloc to 15% tariffs on most of its goods entering America.
This is lower than a 30% levy previously threatened by the US president.
The agreement will include 'zero for zero' tariffs on a number of products including aircraft, some agricultural goods and certain chemicals, as well as EU purchases of US energy worth 750 billion dollars (£558 billion) over three years.
Speaking to journalists on Sunday about his meeting with Sir Keir, Mr Trump said: 'We're meeting about a lot of things. We have our trade deal and it's been a great deal.
'It's good for us. It's good for them and good for us. I think the UK is very happy, they've been trying for 12 years to get it and they got it, and it's a great trade deal for both, works out very well.
'We'll be discussing that. I think we're going to be discussing a lot about Israel.
'They're very much involved in terms of wanting something to happen.
'He's doing a very good job, by the way.'
Mr Trump's private trip to the UK comes ahead of a planned state visit in September.