Among other things this would mean steep increases in the NHS drugs budget; loss of home markets for British farmers; Elon Musk’s “self-driving” cars let loose on the roads; higher taxes for traditional British retailers; and the British consumer, one way or another, eating chlorinated chicken, genetically modified bread, growth-hormone-treated meat and poultry, junk food containing currently banned chemical flavourings and preservatives, and irradiated fruit and vegetables.
Voices: The British economy will be profoundly affected by Trump’s trade war Editorial: The decision to impose 25 per cent tariffs on steel and aluminium may not look relevant to the UK at first glance – but it will lead to mutual impoverishment across the world and a further rise in international tensions.
These would likely prove both economically and politically painful – not least because their explicit aim would be to reduce the UK’s overall trade surplus with the US of around £71bn (albeit this is at present mostly centred on services).
He would also make enemies in Brussels, where the European Union, a larger market overall than America, would express concerns about the integrity of the single market (no chlorinated chicken, merci) and about whose side Britain is on.
Even if Britain were overlooked, the steady contraction in global trade would affect British exporters, because the UK is an unusually open economy.
