Starmer tells firms ‘we have your back’ amid Trump tariffs

Sir Keir Starmer tried to calm British business fears as Donald Trump ‘s trade tariffs caused chaos in stock markets across the world today, saying ‘we have your back’. The PM and Chancellor Rachel Reeves used a visit to a Jaguar Land Rover to fight to lessen the impact of the US import tax regime, as Wall Street became the latest market to nose dive.

They spoke as the Dow Jones fell more than four points in early trading, after the FTSE, European and Asian markets plummeted overnight and this morning. US markets then went through turmoil, rising sharply on hopes that tariffs may be eased before tumbling then they proved to be ill-founded. The tariff regime was branded a ‘nuclear winter’ by one of the US leader’s own allies, but Trump branded the costly turmoil tough ‘medicine’ that had to be endured, and told people not to be ‘be ‘weak and stupid.’

European Commission president Ursula Von der Leyen today said the EU was ready to discuss a deal on tariff free industrial imports, though it reserves the right to introduce its own counter-tariffs. Speaking in the West Midlands, Sir Keir said t ariffs are a ‘huge challenge’ and that we are in a ‘completely new world’. He added: ‘Let me be really clear, at a moment like this, our future is in our hands, and so of course, we will keep calm and fight for the best deal with the US, and we’ve been discussing that intensely over the last few days.

‘But we are also going to work with our key partners to reduce barriers to trade across the globe, to accelerate trade deals with the rest of the world, and champion the cause of free and open trade right across the globe.’ The FTSE 100 was again whacked today by the fallout from the president’s astonishing move to hike import taxes on goods entering the US, hitting its lowest lowest level in a year. The fall, at one point more than 6 per cent, came after it suffered its worst day since the pandemic on Friday, and followed massive hits to Asian markets overnight.

There were worse falls in Europe, with Germany ‘s Dax down 10 per cent and the pan-European STOXX 600 slumping 5.8 per cent. Manufacturers with high exposure to the US market like Airbus and Rolls-Royce, banks and oil giants, were among those worse hit. Oil and cryptocurrency joined the stock rout and the incoming German Chancellor Friedrich Merz warned that the situation could ‘deteriorate further’.

Trump defied the carnage, which is expected to infect US stock markets when they open later today, and last night told reporters on Air Force One: ‘Sometimes you have to take medicine to fix something.’ But it prompted financier Bill Ackman to beg the president to hit pause. The Pershing Square Capital Management CEO warned that Trump’s current trajectory could devastate businesses around the world, ‘ destroying confidence in our country as a trading partner, as a place to do business and as a market to invest capital’. He urged the president to ‘call a 90-day timeout, negotiate and resolve unfair asymmetric tariff deals and induce trillions of dollars of new investment in our country.

‘If, on the other hand, on April 9, we launch economic nuclear war on every country in the world, business investment will grind to a halt, consumers will close their wallets and pocket books and we will severely damage our reputation with the rest of the world that will take years and potentially decades to rehabilitate,’ he added. Trump denied he was intentionally engineering a market selloff and insisted he could not foresee market reactions, saying he would not make a deal with other countries unless trade deficits were solved. Later he posted on his Truth Social platform that the tariffs were ‘a beautiful thing to behold’.

Meanwhile in the UK, Downing Street said Sir Keir Starmer did not speak to Trump over the weekend, when the PM had talks with leaders from Canada, Germany, France and the European Commission. Asked if Sir Keir was trying to persuade Canada and the EU not to retaliate over the US tariffs, the spokesman said it is ‘up to every country to respond in the way they see fit’. The last few days have not ‘fundamentally changed the calculation’ when it comes to the Government’s ambitions on an EU reset and a close trading relationship with the bloc, he added.

Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander said global tariffs are ‘bad news’ when asked if the world was heading towards a global recession. Gas guzzling supercars are set to be exempted from the 2030 ban on new petrol vehicles as ministers scramble to help companies hit by the tariff war. Ms Alexander said PM Sir Keir Starmer has ‘built a relationship’ with Trump and will be ‘honest’ with the UK’s allies about the impacts of tariffs on the national and global economy. Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, she said: ‘So you’re right to say that the Prime Minister has built a relationship with President Trump. ‘I think that has been obvious over the last couple of months. ‘We’re clear that, actually, a constantly escalating trade war where tariffs are ratcheted up is bad for global demand.

In early Monday morning trading in Asia — Sunday night US time – Japan’s Nikkei cratered as much as 8 percent. Australia was down 6 per cent, South Korea 5 per cent, Taiwan almost 10 percent, Singapore 8.5 percent, Hong Kong 10 per cent and China almost 5 percent. CNBC host and market analyst Jim Cramer warned that the US could be barreling toward another Black Monday. The 1987 crash — a 22.6 percent drop in a single day — remains the worst in modern market history, far eclipsing the chaos of 2008 or even the Covid crash. ‘If the president doesn’t reach out and reward countries and companies that follow the rules, then the 1987 scenario… where we dropped for three days and then plunged 22 percent on Monday, becomes highly relevant,’ Cramer said during his show on Saturday.

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