Latest news with #Unherd
Spectator
12-05-2025
- Business
- Spectator
US and China slash tariffs
The White House has announced a breakthrough in trade negotiations with China following two days of talks in Switzerland. Yesterday, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the two sides had made 'substantial progress'. This morning, he said that the US would lower tariffs on China to 25 per cent from 145 per cent for 90 days, and that China would lower tariffs on the US to 10 per cent from 125 per cent for 90 days. Trump's trade chief Jamieson Greer (who gave his first European interview to Unherd last week) said yesterday it had been a 'very constructive two days'. He added: 'It's important to understand how quickly we were able to come to agreement, which reflects that perhaps the differences were not so large as maybe thought.
Yahoo
15-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Vice President JD Vance says there is 'good chance' of U.S.-Britain trade deal
April 15 (UPI) -- U.S. Vice President JD Vance said he thinks a trade deal with Britain could be within reach amid sweeping Trump administration tariffs. Vance told Unherd Monday that the United States was "certainly working very hard" with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer's government on a trade deal "The president really loves the United Kingdom. He loved the queen. He admires and loves the king," Vance said. "I think there's a good chance that, yes," Vance added. "We'll come to a great agreement that's in the best interest of both countries." He further noted that Trump, as a businessman, has several important business relationships in Britain. "I think it's much deeper than that. There's a real cultural affinity. And of course, fundamentally, America is an Anglo country," he said. Trump's "Liberation Day" tariffs included a 10% duty on Britian, among other trade partners around the globe. Vance also explained that he feels that the current tariff situation "will lead to a lot of positive trade relationships with Europe." "We very much see Europe as our ally," Vance said. "We just want it to be an alliance where Europeans are a little more independent, and our security and trade relationships are [going to] reflect that." "We're not on anybody's side," Vance concluded. "We're on America's side." U.K. Industry Minister Sarah Jones spoke with the BBC Tuesday about Vance's comments and said that talks with the U.S. about a trade deal are ongoing but had no statement about the level of progress. "We want to secure a deal with the U.S.," said Jones. "We think that would be the best way to secure jobs and growth in our country."
The Guardian
15-04-2025
- Business
- The Guardian
‘Good chance' of UK-US trade deal with Trump administration, says JD Vance
JD Vance has said the US is optimistic it can negotiate a 'great' trade deal with the UK. In an interview with online outlet Unherd, the US vice president told Sohrab Ahmari: We're certainly working very hard with Keir Starmer's government. The president really loves the UK. He loved the queen. He admires and loves the king. It is a very important relationship. And he's a businessman and has a number of important business relationships in [the UK]. But I think it's much deeper than that. There's a real cultural affinity. And of course, fundamentally America is an Anglo country. I think there's a good chance that, yes, we'll come to a great agreement that's in the best interest of both countries. The comments come just weeks after the Trump administration imposed a blanket 10% tariff on imports from the UK, with higer rates on specific sectors like automobiles. Share Show key events only Please turn on JavaScript to use this feature Good morning, and welcome to our live UK politics coverage for Tuesday. Here are your headlines … Parliament isn't sitting, but campaigning for local elections in some regions of England in May continues – Ed Davey will be in Cambridgeshire and Nigel Farage will be giving a campaign speech in the north east. It is Martin Belam with you here today again. You can reach me at if you have spotted typos or what you consider to be errors or omissions. Share
Yahoo
03-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
UK, France scramble to draft peace plan for Ukraine as US support falters
French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer have taken the lead on developing a peace plan for Ukraine as both leaders seek to act as intermediaries between Kyiv and Washington after Friday's Oval Office meltdown between US President Donald Trump and Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelenskyy left future American support in doubt. How much progress has been made is unclear: Macron has suggested an initial month-long ceasefire, but a British official appeared to rebuff the idea. The scramble follows a pledge from Kyiv's European allies to ramp up defense spending as the continent confronts the security implications of the Trump administration's embrace of Russia: The US has ceased all cyber offensives targeting Moscow, as a Kremlin spokesperson said that Washington's shift 'largely aligns with our vision.' The pre-planned Sunday meeting between European leaders took on urgency after Friday's White House debacle, but it ultimately delivered 'plenty of promises but few concrete answers,' Politico wrote. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer urged Kyiv's allies to create a 'coalition of the willing' to support Ukraine and bolster Europe's collective security, but promised increases in defense spending will take time to have any measurable effect. If the US pulls back now, 'there is no road to victory for Ukraine,' Wolfgang Münchau, director of Eurointelligence, wrote in Unherd, arguing that the European Union and the UK are both structurally and economically incapable of funding a fight against Russia that ends with any measure of success. To signal otherwise, Münchau added, was as 'dangerous' as it was 'laughable.' US President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's disastrous exchange on Friday could prove the 'hinge point of history' for US-European relations, The Washington Post's global affairs columnist Ishaan Tharoor wrote. The argument 'laid bare the deepening rift' between Europe and Trump. Under the Biden administration, the 2022 invasion of Ukraine had been a 'galvanizing moment' for the West, with the US surging support for Kyiv, enabling Ukraine to fight back for longer than Moscow had imagined possible. Now, the Trump administration seems poised to suspend military and other aid to Kyiv, even as Europe scrambles to belatedly bolster its defenses and Russia continues its bombardment of Ukraine. As the Trump administration seems poised to further embrace Moscow, some Republicans remain wary of potentially undoing decades of foreign policy hegemony and security measures against Russia. After the US sided with Russia in a United Nations vote on Ukraine, Senate Armed Services Chair Roger Wicker, R-Miss., told Axios that 'clearly, Putin's Russia is the aggressor,' while Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, condemned the vote as 'shameful.' Others, however, are supportive of a quick end to the Ukraine war so that the US can better challenge China. That 'logic is deeply flawed,' a Russia expert wrote for Foreign Policy: China and Russia are so close that to convince one to abandon the other, 'the price would have to be exceedingly high.'
