Keir Starmer, the leader of the Labour Party, has been working tirelessly to secure a complete opt-out from the US’s sweeping tariffs. However, despite his efforts, the UK has only managed to secure a reduced tariff of 10%, which is half the size of the tariff imposed on the EU by President Donald Trump.
This news has caused a stir in the political landscape, with the Tories claiming that this reduction in tariffs is a clear indication that Brexit was worth it. Shadow trade secretary Andrew Griffith even went so far as to say that this is a “vindication” for those who voted for the UK to leave the EU in 2016. But is this really the case? Did Brexit truly help in securing a lower tariff from Trump?
The UK’s departure from the EU has been fraught with challenges, and these tariffs have become the first major trade test for the country’s post-EU life. On the surface, it may seem like Brexit has paid off, as it has given the UK the ability to have a separate trade policy from the EU. However, the complex withdrawal deal has also meant that Northern Ireland, which shares a land border with the EU member state, the Republic of Ireland, still has to follow the bloc’s trade rules to prevent any friction on the isle of Ireland.
Under the Windsor Framework, negotiated by former Tory Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, Northern Ireland is still required to align with the EU’s single market, even though it is not part of the bloc and cannot vote on any of its policies. However, former Tory Secretary for Northern Ireland, Chris Heaton-Harris, has suggested that the UK’s deal has secured a way out of this predicament. He stated that if the EU retaliates with tariffs affecting goods made in Northern Ireland for the US, they can be reclaimed through the Duty Reimbursement Scheme in the Windsor Framework. This suggests that Northern Ireland may have the option to opt-out of any response from the EU on US goods coming into its trade bloc.
But critics argue that any perceived benefit still does not outweigh the huge economic blow that Brexit has dealt to the UK in the first place. According to Dr Mike Galsworthy, the chair of the European Movement UK, “the celebration of being punished, but to a lesser degree than some others, has to be one of the most tragicomic last straws to be grabbed at by Brexiteers.” The Director of Policy and Research at Best for Britain, Tom Brufatto, also stated that “people seeking to spin the slap in the face the UK just received from the US as a ‘Brexit win’ should remember the thousands now at risk of losing their jobs because of this punitive trade war, and that Brexit itself has caused far more economic damage than Trump’s tariffs ever could.”
Moreover, any reciprocation from the UK will not pack as much of a punch as it would have if the country were still part of the EU. Galsworthy noted that “there is a huge amount of protection within the EU bloc,” and questioned whether the UK can finally put “Brexit desperation aside and listen to what the majority of economists have to say on the matter of trade?” He added that “the UK has weakened its own economy to the tune of tens of billions since 2020, and red-tape has already hammered exporters.” Professor of Economics Moll Scott Cato also highlighted the lack of bargaining power the UK now has, stating that “the EU is a powerful trading bloc with the heft to stand up to Trump,” while “Brexit Britain has no alternative but to appease him and to change our domestic policy to do so.”
In light of these challenges, the claim that Brexit has somehow helped secure a lower tariff from Trump is highly questionable. In fact, it can be argued that Brexit has made the UK more vulnerable to Trump’s trade policies than ever before. Galsworthy pointed out that “far from being a 10% tariff being a benefit of the UK leaving the European Union, it is a demonstration that Britain has weakened its global power to such an extent that it no longer has the economic strength to dictate its own policies, but is instead forced to bend to the will of Donald Trump, left with just a fraction of the negotiating power that being part of the world’s largest trading bloc once gave us.”
Given this situation, how does the general public want the government to respond? Keir Starmer has stated
