Trump appears to spare Britain tariffs – for now

Britain’s Prime Minister Keir Starmer waits for Germany’s Chancellor Olaf Scholz to arrive at the Chequers, in Aylesbury, England, Sunday, Feb. 2, 2025. (Ben Stansall/Pool Photo via AP)

Washington, United States — US President Donald Trump indicated Sunday that he would not immediately impose tariffs on Britain, as he suggested that the European Union could be line for levies like those imposed on Canada, Mexico and China.

Trump has already launched a full-fledged trade war on the grounds that he wants the countries targeted, Washington’s three leading trading partners, to do more to stem the flow of migrants and illicit drugs into the country.

READ: EU vows firm response if Trump unleashes tariffs

But the Republican president, who only returned to the White House less than a fortnight ago, has indicated he also wants to punish trade partners for running deficits with the United States.

“We’re going to see what happens. It might happen (with Britain)… but it will definitely happen with the European Union. I can tell you that, because they’ve really taken advantage of us — you know, we have (an) over $300 billion deficit,” he said.

“They don’t take our cars, they don’t take our farm products. They take almost nothing, and we take everything from the millions of cars, tremendous amounts of food and farm products. So the UK is way out of line, and we’ll see with the UK, but the European Union is really out of line.”

READ: Trump says tariff ‘pain’ will be ‘worth the price’

But Trump held out the prospect of a settlement with London, saying that “I think that one can be worked out.”

“Prime Minister (Keir) Starmer has been very nice. We’ve had a couple of meetings, we’ve had numerous phone calls, we’re getting along very well, and we’ll see whether or not we can balance out our (trade),” Trump said.