Liam Fox urges Brussels to avoid US trade war

Sam Lowe, a trade expert from the Centre for European Reform, said the UK was playing a double game on EU retaliation. “In public, Britain does not want to be too critical of Donald Trump, not least because of Brexit. However, the UK is hiding behind the EU since it needs its muscle to prevent the US action going on without end. I think the UK will say it wants to curb the measures, then fall back in line if they come into place.”

Mr Lowe said that prices of goods on sale in Britain would probably go up in the event that the EU imposed retaliatory measures. “The change would make Levi jeans, for example, more expensive to import from the US to the UK. Whether the price goes up for UK consumers depends on whether either the manufacturer or the importer decide to absorb any of the extra import duty, and how price sensitive British shoppers are.”