1 week Ago By HuffPost UK
Almost two-thirds of Brits have said Donald Trump is handling his new tariffs badly, according to a new poll. The US president’s recent taxes on new imports from foreign countries – the UK was hit with a 10% tariff on top of a global 25% levy on cars and steel products – have sent the worldwide economy reeling. A new survey from Ipsos UK found 63% of Brits think Trump has done a bad job handling these new trade decisions, compared to just 18% who think he’s done well.
That’s not too surprising, considering 74% of Brits agree that the tariffs will make regular household purchases more expensive. A further 64% say increasing tariffs will do more harm than good, with 41% admitting they expect import taxes to have a negative impact on their personal finances. Gideon Skinner, senior director of UK politics at Ipsos, said : “These findings underscore a growing unease among the British public regarding the global role and trade policies of the United States – traditionally one of the most steadfast allies.
” Pointing to the seven in 10 Brits who no longer think there is a “special relationship” between the US and the UK, Skinner said there may be a “cooling” of relations between the countries. The expert said: “The stark decline in the British public’s belief in the ‘special relationship’ and the increasingly negative perception of US influence, suggests a potential cooling of transatlantic ties. “It’s likely that concerns over the impact of tariffs are playing a key role in this, especially when Britons’ economic optimism was already in short supply.
” Ipsos also found 38% of Brits think Keir Starmer and his non-confrontational approach – he is yet to unveil any reciprocal tariffs and is hoping for an economic trade deal instead – is going poorly, while 25% think the PM has done a good job. Similarly, 35% of Brits think the government as a whole has done a bad job, and 26% say it has done a good job. But, 51% of respondents say a trade deal to reduce these trade barriers was a good idea, while 44% like the idea of retaliatory tariffs on American goods.
The Ipsos poll, conducted between April 4 and 7, comes after pollsters at More in Common found the majority of Brits no longer think of Trump’s America as an ally. Related..
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