U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer said his government is ready to use industrial policy to mitigate the impact of the tariffs that the Trump administration just imposed, adding that all options are being considered in Britain’s response.
“We stand ready to use industrial policy to help shelter British business from the storm,” Starmer wrote in an op-ed published late Saturday in the Telegraph.
“Some people may feel uncomfortable about … the idea the state should intervene directly,” the prime minister admitted. “But we simply cannot cling on to old sentiments when the world is turning this fast,” he said.
Starmer promised to “turbocharge” plans to improve the country’s competitiveness this week.
On Wednesday, the U.S. imposed a baseline tariff of 10 percent on all U.K. imports, scuttling initial hopes that the country could secure an exemption from U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariff campaign.
In his op-ed, Starmer said “the immediate priority is to keep calm and fight for the best deal,” adding that all options are still on the table.
Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch backed the U.K. government’s policy, saying on Sky that not retaliating “as a first response is the correct thing to do.”
“Retaliatory tariffs just escalate trade wars,” Badenoch said.
