00:00Could Donald Trump start a trade war with the UK?
00:02Trump made a radical foreign policy decision over the weekend,
00:05putting tariffs on goods from China, Mexico and Canada,
00:08and has now hinted he could do the same with the UK.
00:11A tariff is basically a tax on goods from another country.
00:14So a company, for example, would have to pay a 25% tax
00:17to import Canadian maple syrup into the US.
00:20If there was an American alternative,
00:21that might drive people to buy that instead.
00:23But if there isn't an American alternative,
00:24like for many Chinese manufactured products,
00:26then many economists fear that the products
00:28would just get more expensive for the consumer.
00:30So what could this mean for the UK?
00:32Trump says that the UK is, in his words, out of line.
00:35But that's something that can be worked out,
00:37and that Keir Starmer has been very nice.
00:39But if discussions were to turn sour,
00:41that could make it much harder for UK businesses
00:43to get their products into the US.
00:45It could also lead the UK to do
00:47what Canada and Mexico have done,
00:48and impose tariffs on US goods in retaliation.
00:51Again, potentially leading to higher prices at the tills
00:54in the middle of a cost-of-living crisis.
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