...but Fox brands his trade war ‘absurd’

LIAM Fox yesterday condemned Donald Trump’s trade war as ‘absurd’ as he called for Britain to be exempt from new US tariffs.

He will fly to Washington next week to try to secure an exemptiont from the 25 per cent tariffs on imports of steel and 10 per cent on aluminium.

But it is feared Britain may not be able to get one as it is tied to EUwide trade deals until after the Brexit transition period in 2021. Mr Trump’s tariffs plan caused horror across the European Union, which yesterday threatened to hit back with its own tariffs on US products including peanut butter, cranberries and orange juice.

Dr Fox, the International Trade Secretary, said Mr Trump’s policy was ‘the wrong way’ to tackle cheap Chinese steel being dumped on the US. He said the UK produces ‘high value steel which can’t be sourced in the US and also for the military so it’s doubly absurd that we should be caught out.’