Former British ambassador criticizing Trump urges Starmer not to admit retaliatory tariffs

Former British ambassador to the United States Kim Darroch urged British Prime Minister Keir Starmer to take a strong stance on President Trump’s threat to retaliatory tariffs, saying Britain should avoid giving Trump a “win.”

Darroch, who called Trump an ambassador during Trump’s first term, warned that acknowledging Trump would indicate weakness and could cause additional tariff threats.

“It is understandable that in the face of serious damage to British cars, steel and aluminum, the government should consider concessions such as reducing digital taxes,” Darroch said in a report in the Health News on Saturday.

“But they need to be alert to Trump’s victory,” Daroch added. “Tariffs are his universal coercive mechanism and if he sees them working, he will use them again and again.”

Darroch encouraged Starmer to model the attitude of Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, who promised to retaliate against his own tariffs. His tough response to Trump in Canada has rallying support for his party and appears to have softened Trump.

“They should point to the dramatic shift in Canadian politics, behind a strong and provocative reaction to the U.S. tariff threat, Mark Carney’s liberals lagged eight points ahead of last week from the end of January,” Daroch said.

The White House is expected to announce reciprocity tariffs for a series of countries after months of unexpected new international trade policies. Foreign leaders have been working to convince Washington to take additional tariffs ahead of Trump’s so-called “liberation day” on Wednesday, fearing that the U.S. president would spark a global trade war. He has announced a 25% tariff on imports of automobiles, steel and aluminum.

Trump has proposed tax exemptions for certain countries, but has been waiting for more revealing its policy of infringement until the actual deadline.

“I might give a lot of countries some breaks. It’s reciprocity, but we might be better than that. You know, we’ve been very good for a lot of countries for a long time.”

“We may be charging less than what they charge because they charge us a lot and I don’t think they can accept it. But it will be big.”

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