Starmer 'pushing for Trump royal visit this year' as UK bids for US trade deal - after tariffs spark turmoil in markets
by Kit Heren · LBCBy Kit Heren
Stock markets around the world continued to plunge on Friday, and the British government considered their response to US tariffs - as news emerged that a visit by Donald Trump could take place this year.
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Market turmoil saw the FTSE 100 - an index of the 100 most highly biggest companies listed on the London Stock Exchange - undergo the biggest single-day fall since March 2020.
The global financial shock comes in the wake of Trump's sweeping 'Liberation Day' tariffs, which saw levies upwards of 10% applied to international imports entering the US.
The UK's 10% tariffs come into force on Saturday.
The S&P 500 lost 6% after China matched US President Donald Trump's big raise in tariffs announced earlier this week.
The drop closed the worst week for the S&P 500 since March 2020, when the pandemic crashed the economy.
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The world begins to fight back against tariffs
The Dow Jones Industrial Average plunged 2,231 points, or 5.5% on Friday, and the Nasdaq composite tumbled 5.8% to pull more than 20% below its record set in December.
This meant it suffered the biggest single-day decline since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic in March 2020.
On Friday, a Treasury minister said the Government is "negotiating intensively" and "at pace" to secure a deal with the US.
Keir Starmer will spend the weekend at his Chequers country residence, calling world leaders. He spoke to Australia's Anthony Albanese and Italy's Giorgia Meloni on Friday. A Downing Street spokesperson said that that all three agreed that "an all-out trade war would be extremely damaging and is in nobody’s interests".
Meanwhile Starmer is also thought to be pushing for Trump to visit Scotland this year, perhaps for a meeting with the King at Balmoral.
The president may also visit his Turnberry golf course, which is in Scotland too. A visit could be as soon as June or in late August or early September, the Telegraph reported.
This would be in addition to the state visit offered during Starmer's trip to the White House earlier this year. That is likely to take place next year at the earliest.
Suck it up or retaliate? Britain considers tariff response
It comes as the British government scrambles to work out its response to the tariffs.
David Lammy said he regretted the "return to protectionism" in the US and that Britons would be "very concerned" about how tariffs affect their finances.
The Foreign Secretary told reporters: "The United Kingdom, like France, is a great maritime nation.
"We are a nation that believes in open trade, and I regret the return to protectionism in the United States, something that we've not seen for nearly a century.
"As you know, we are consulting with business and industry. At this time, we are engaged in discussions with the United States to strike an economic agreement and an economic deal."
Asked why the Government was consulting on possible retaliatory action given most economists say it would lead to a bigger hit to the economy, exchequer secretary to the Treasury James Murray said earlier: "We've been negotiating intensively to secure a deal since the Prime Minister went to Washington earlier this year and we're continuing those negotiations at pace to secure a deal now.
"Obviously we're engaging with businesses, we have been throughout this process.
"The next stage of engagement is to ask their input about what possible measures would look like in terms of the UK response, because we want to involve businesses in that decision, and we need to be clear that we keep all options on the table... we reserve the right to retaliate, but we want a deal, and our full focus is on that."
Several major corporates saw massive drops in their share prices.
Defence and engineering giant Rolls-Royce saw losses of more than a 10th, while shares in miners Antofagasta, Glencore, Fresnillo, and Anglo American dropped by more than 8%.
Banks were also seeing significant losses with the likes of Barclays and NatWest closing about 8% lower.
Losses extended in Europe on Friday, with Germany's Dax closing 4.95% lower, and France's Cac 40 dropping 4.26%.
This took it to its lowest level since May last year. The Dow Jones and Nasdaq indexes were also both down about 3.9%.
The pound was also dropping sharply against key currencies. Sterling had declined 1.5% against the US dollar, at 1.2905, and was down 0.8% against the euro, at 1.1755.