Trump told of ‘concern’ over US trade tariff plans

Theresa May has called Donald Trump to raise Britain’s “deep concern” over US plans to impose tariffs of 25% on imports of steel and 10% on aluminium.The prime minister called the president yesterday after world stock markets tumbled in the face of a threatened trade war with China, and escalating tensions between the US and EU.“The prime minister raised our deep concern at the president’s forthcoming announcement on steel and aluminium tariffs, noting that multilateral action was the only way to resolve the problem of global overcapacity in all parties’ interests,” said a Downing Street spokeswoman.Trump’s protectionism has been communicated through Twitter, where he claimed that his country was losing billions of dollars on trade, adding that “trade wars are good, and easy to win”.The European Commission president, Jean Claude Juncker, responded to the decisions on steel and aluminium by saying Europe was ready to forcefully target US imports such as Harley-Davidson motorbikes and Levi’s jeans.On Saturday, Trump hit back, saying: “If the EU wants to further increase their already massive tariffs and barriers on US companies doing business there, we will simply apply a tax on their cars which freely pour into the US. They make it impossible for our cars (and more) to sell there. Big trade imbalance!”May delivered her speech on Brexit amid the tensions, with a focus on the benefits of free trade.Her call to President Trump came after she made clear that signing up to “passporting” for the City of London after Brexit would leave the UK as “just a rule-taker”, insisting that financial services would instead be covered through a free trade deal.In comments recorded on Friday after her Mansion House speech, the prime minister admitted the current system that allows banks regulated in Britain to operate freely into other EU countries was off the table.But she sought to reassure companies that an alternative system would be set up. “My message to them is that what we’re looking to develop is a relationship that means that they can stay here in the UK as part of the City of London, that they will be continuing to provide their services across the European Union,” she told BBC One’s Andrew Marr Show.