UK-US Trade and Tariffs

Viscount Stansgate Excerpts

Thursday 3rd April 2025 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Gustafsson (Lab)]

I thank the noble Lord for the question. Engagement with business has to be at the forefront of this. Often, we interpret this through our own lens—our own understanding and feelings about being on the receiving end of those tariffs. But for some industries, as the noble Lord rightly points out, there could be an opportunity. It is not for us to reflect our perception of these tariffs on to an industry; it is up to us to operate within industry and hear from them about the impacts on their organisations, their employees and their future strategies.

That is exactly why today’s request for input from industry is so important. There has been an ongoing engagement with industry for weeks and months in the run-up to this. We have been talking about the implications of this for business, but it has been on a hypothetical basis. We are now turning that into a far more tactical conversation. What is the consequence of what is happening? How can we, as your government, support you to navigate through this?

[Viscount Stansgate (Lab)]

My Lords, I do not think that any Member in this Chamber envies the position of the British Prime Minister at such a time, with our relationship with the United States coming under such sudden strain on so many fronts in so short a time, whether diplomatically, militarily or indeed now economically. I think yesterday will be long remembered, sadly, as a day that might prove extremely damaging for world trade. I hope that my noble friend the Minister will agree, however difficult it is, that the sheer uncertainty of all this could in itself have an adverse impact on businesses in this country. But, in the face of all this, I support the Government’s measured approach. If I may use the words of the noble Lord speaking from the Opposition Front Bench, we must keep a cool head.

I understand that my noble friend’s colleague, the Secretary of State for Business and Trade in another place, has asked businesses for further information. I take it—perhaps the Minister could confirm—that this will need to be done quite quickly. As I understand it, although there may be no firm date, 1 May is sometimes referred to as a day by which it might be possible for the United States and the UK to reach an agreement. It will be difficult, and I hope very much that we will remember the principle that Parliament and the Government decide what tax is levied on whom and for what.

Finally, I hope my noble friend will use her good offices with the Government to enable this House to have a debate on these matters before things reach a critical juncture. If it ever came to the point where the United Kingdom decided to take firm action, it would be much better for the Government to know that they have the support of the House.

[Baroness Gustafsson (Lab)]

I thank my noble friend for that comment, and I agree that the best decisions are often made with cool heads. Sometimes it can be challenging to maintain that cool head, but I think that as a Government we have done well to make sure we navigate that on a calm and pragmatic basis. There is so much uncertainty, and I can feel the desire for clarity in this uncertain world. I feel that the request for input from business is a good way of crystallising some of that clarity, as we understand the impact and possible opportunities for next steps.

But have no fear: although the deadline for that conversation or dialogue is 1 May regarding the request for input, there is continuous and ongoing engagement with our US counterparts about how we draw together an agreement. If such an agreement were to come into place, we have not put any artificial deadline on when that should or should not happen—and nor should we, because it would put the negotiations under undue strain. I am pleased and encouraged that the conversation and dialogue are happening regularly, that they are well received on both sides and that access is able to happen.

So I agree—I hear the need for an informed decision about such responses. A debate on any response, as and when that comes to a position where it is more formed, is absolutely where we can provide some real value, and that would be a worthy place.