Britain’s finance minister said she is ‘not part of the problem’ when it comes to US trade
British Foreign Secretary Rachel Reeves speaks during the 11th China-UK Economic and Financial Dialogue on January 11, 2025 in Beijing, China.
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The United Kingdom is “not part of the problem” with the “persistent” trade deficits President Donald Trump wants to address, the country’s finance minister told CNBC on Wednesday.
UK Chancellor Rachel Reeve told CNBC’s Andrew Ross Sorkin, “I understand that President (Donald) Trump is concerned about countries that have large and sustained surpluses in their trade balance with the United States.”
“We’re not part of the problem here. That’s why the United Kingdom increased trade with President Trump last time he was in office,” she told CNBC on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
President Trump has been frustrated by the US trade deficit with many of its partners. But trade with the United Kingdom has generally become more balancedSee-sawing between surplus and deficit in recent years.
Latest UK business information In the second quarter of 2024, the UK will have a trade surplus of 4.5 billion pounds ($5.5 billion).
As such, while China, Mexico, Canada and the European Union are seen as the main targets of Trump’s trade tariffs, economists believe the UK could escape relatively unscathed.
Reeves commented, “There is no reason why our two great countries, with such a strong and unique relationship, cannot increase trade flows again.”
Britain’s finance minister is in Davos this week, trying to attract international investment to Britain’s economy. The move comes after Reeves has come under constant pressure since unveiling the Treasury’s spending and tax plans last fall.
The package of measures proposed in the Autumn Budget focused on increasing the tax burden on British businesses and drew widespread criticism from industry leaders, who said the move would stifle investment, jobs and growth.
The latest data, including data for November and below-expected growth Higher than expected government borrowing costs In December, they contributed to continued discomfort at the Treasury.
The UK found itself in more hot water at the start of the year as the interest rates on which investors are asking to hold UK bonds – known as gilts – showed market jitters over the UK’s economic prospects.
Reeves is sticking to her fiscal plans and has said boosting the UK economy is her priority.
The election of Donald Trump last November represented yet another headache for the centre-left Labor government, with several ministers such as Foreign Secretary David Lammy making unflattering comments about Trump in the past.
As unnatural bedfellows come to political ideology, Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Reeves and the British establishment are looking to improve relations with the White House, especially as universal trade tariffs may be at stake.
