Key events
The UK government will not engage in a “kneejerk” response to any tariffs imposed by Donald Trump, as it warned there will be a “difficult period” ahead in trade relations with the US and called for calm, Alexandra Topping reports.
The education secretary Bridget Phillipson said the government had been “working through every eventuality”. “We still have negotiations under way with our US counterparts about securing an economic deal, but we will always act in the national interest and the interest of the British people.”
However, others are urging Keir Starmer to take a different approach, as Andrew Sparrow reports in the UK politics live blog. While the main opposition party, the Conservatives, have supported the UK PM’s stance of attempting to curry favour with Trump, other parties such as the Liberal Democrats have urged the UK to form a united front with the EU and Canada to retaliate.
Trump set to announce new round of tariffs on what he has called ‘liberation day’
Donald Trump is due announce new tariffs at the White House on Wednesday afternoon and is threatening to unleash a global trade war on what he has called “liberation day”.
Global stock markets, corporate executives and economists have all been shaken but no details of Wednesday’s plans have been made available ahead of the announcement. The president is set to speak at 4pm ET (9pm GMT, 10pm CET). White House officials said the implementation of the tariffs would be immediate.
Trump hopes to bring manufacturing back to the US, respond to what he considers unfair trade policies from other countries, increase tax revenue and incentivize crackdowns on migration and drug trafficking.
The implementation of his tariffs has so far been haphazard, with multiple rollbacks and delays and vague promises that have yet to come to fruition. The threats have soured US relations with its largest trading partners. Canada’s prime minister, Mark Carney, has called them “unjustified” and pledged to retaliate. The European Union has said it has a “strong plan” to retaliate.
Ahead of the announcement, Trump repeated the idea of imposing so-called reciprocal tariffs, where the US would tax imports at the same rates that a country uses for US exports. Trump has specifically mentioned countries like South Korea, Brazil and India, along with the EU, as being possible targets for reciprocal tariffs.
“The world has been ripping off the United States for the last 40 years and more,” Trump told NBC over the weekend. “All we’re doing is being fair.”
Democrats hail major win as Susan Crawford delivers blow to Trump and Musk in Wisconsin
Susan Crawford’s victory in the race for a seat on the Wisconsin supreme court has been hailed as a major win for Democrats after the contest was framed as a referendum on Elon Musk and Donald Trump’s popularity.
Crawford, a liberal judge from Dane county, defeated Brad Schimel, a former Republican attorney general and conservative judge from Waukesha county, after Musk and groups associated with the tech billionaire spent millions to boost his candidacy in what became the most expensive judicial contest in American history.
More than $80m was spent on the race, with Musk and affiliated groups spending more than $20m alone. Musk reprised some of the tactics that he used last fall to help Trump win, including offering $100 to people who signed a petition opposing “activist judges” and offering $1m checks to a smaller number of voters.
However, two US House of Representatives seats in Florida, vacated by cabinet appointees, went to Republicans on Tuesday, dashing Democratic hopes for an upset victory in the first federal special elections held since the president began his second term.
Democratic candidates Josh Weil and Gay Valimont were on track to lose the solidly red districts by much smaller margins than the more than 30 points that Democrats lost them by in November.
Elsewhere, Cory Booker, the Democratic US senator from New Jersey, broke the record for longest speech ever by a lone senator – beating the record first established by Strom Thurmond, who spoke for 24 hours and 18 minutes in opposition to the Civil Rights Act of 1957.
“I rise with the intention of disrupting the normal business of the United States Senate for as long as I am physically able,” Booker said near the start of his speech. “I rise tonight because I believe sincerely that our nation is in crisis.” He concluded his speech after 25 hours and five minutes.
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