Chancellor Rachel Reeves 'confident' there will be a UK-US trade deal - but insists she won't rush it

23 April 2025, 18:00 | Updated: 23 April 2025, 18:29

By Natasha Clark

@NatashaC

Rachel Reeves has told LBC that she is "confident" of a US trade deal - but she won't "rush it".

The Chancellor insisted that it is "important we get the right deal for Britain" as she dashed to Washington for top level meetings with Donald Trump's team.

Earlier this year, the president said he was confident a trade deal between the two countries could be done "very quickly".

Ministers hope it will offset the 10 per cent tariffs Trump slapped on goods earlier this month - which are expected to slow down Britain's economy.

Ms Reeves insisted that she wanted a deal that was in the "national interest".

Car manufacturers - who are being hit with the 25 per cent tariff - have warned of job losses if a deal isn't done within weeks.

Read more: Rachel Reeves to push for US trade deal in first face-to-face meeting with American counterpart

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The Chancellor told LBC from Washington: "I'm confident that there is a deal to be done between the UK and the US.

"It's very clear, I'm in the US now, that the US administration as well want to do a deal with the UK, but it's important that we get the right deal for Britain, that we don't rush into a deal, but we do the right deal in our British national interest.

"I recognise the huge challenges that businesses, including in the automotive sector, are facing at the moment, which is why, as a government, we announced more flexibilities for our car manufacturers on the shift to electric vehicles to better support them through these challenging times.

"It's also why we are working as hard as we can to get a deal with the United States, a deal that is in our country's national interest."

In an interview with LBC, she also:

• Announced she would curb cheap imports from China by looking again at the Low Import Value tax - which critics say encourages cheaper goods from abroad
• Admitted an EU youth mobility scheme is part of talks - but vowed migration would still come down
• Hit back against IMF critics who said she was damaging growth - insisting 'the world is changing'

The Chancellor was dealt a fresh blow on Tuesday after the IMF downgraded the UK's growth forecasts - blaming global headwinds and internal decisions.

When quizzed, she insisted it was a problem that was affecting countries all over the world.

She said: "The world is changing and we can see that all around us, and no country, including a strong economy like the UK, is going to be immune to those global changes.

"We took important action last year to get a grip of the public finances that did involve difficult decisions on tax and spending and on welfare.

"But the global uncertainty, the global headwinds we've seen in recent months show how important it was to get a grip of the public finances to ensure that we can weather the headwinds that are coming today."

Some Labour MPs have been pushing for the government to look at a mobility scheme with the EU which would help boost growth and ties with the EU.

The Chancellor refused to take that off the table, and insisted it was part of "discussions with our colleagues and allies" in the EU.

However, she vowed that the Labour party promised to bring down migration numbers and would not return to free movement - stressing those rules were "non-negotiable".

She said: "This Labour government is going to bring down net migration and we are not going to return to free movement. We need to be able to determine who comes into our country and the needs of our economy. And those things are non-negotiable.

"There will be a summit between the UK and the EU in May. And that summit will be focused on reducing some of the trade barriers that exist between our countries. But we've got to bring down net migration and we will bring down net migration.

"Those discussions with our colleagues and allies in the European Union are ongoing at the moment.

"We made a clear manifesto commitment to bring down net migration and for no return to free movement within the European Union.

"It is important that we determine who comes into our country and those things are not up for negotiation."

The Chancellor announced this evening that she would look at possibly limiting the dumping of cheap goods into the UK - in a bid to support UK businesses.

She said she'd be looking to review so-called Low Value Import rules - which retailers say disadvantages them overseas.

The rule allows goods valued at £135 or less to be imported without paying customs duty.

But some of Britain’s best-known retailers such as Next and Sainsbury's, have called to amend the treatment.

The Chancellor said: "We are working with our high street businesses and our retail businesses to stop them being undercut by cheap foreign imports that are damaging our high street and damaging our retailers."