Foreign Secretary David Lammy has said he will seek to warn Donald Trump that harming the UK by hiking tariffs is not in his interest.
It comes as there are concerns about possible tensions with the incoming President, whose pledge to raise tariffs on imports into the US could hit the UK economy.
The President-elect has said he wants to increase tariffs on goods imported from around the world by 10 per cent, rising to 60 per cent on items from China.
Lammy told the BBC he was "quite impressed" by the Trump campaign when he met them on a trip to the US earlier this year.
David Lammy and JD Vance earlier this year
David Lammy/X
When asked if he would seek a special trade arrangement with the US to avoid the tariffs on UK imports, he said: "We will seek to ensure and to get across to the United States, and I believe that they would understand this, that hurting your closest allies cannot be in your medium or long-term interests, whatever the pursuit of public policy in relation to some of the problems posed by China."
It comes as Lammy has described his previous remarks about Trump being "deluded, dishonest, xenophobic, narcissistic" and a "neo-Nazi-sympathising sociopath" as "old news."
While he added that it would be a "struggle to find any politician" who had not said some "pretty ripe things" about Trump, the Foreign Secretary admitted that Trump did not bring them up when the pair met in September.
Lammy also said he had "felt in his bones" there could be another Trump presidency, but added a state visit in the next year would be "a bit of a tall order" as they take time to organise.
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Lammy has dismissed his past comments as 'old news'
REUTERS
New Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch has called for an apology for comments senior Labour figures have made about the President-elect.
However, Chancellor Rachel Reeves, tried to play down the impact Lammy’s past criticism would have, pointing out that JD Vance had used "choice words" about Trump himself but was still chosen as his running mate.
In the lead-up to the 2016 presidential election, Vance was a public critic of Trump, referring to the Republican businessman as an "idiot" and said he was "reprehensible."
Reeves said: "Well, look, the vice president-elect of the United States has used some choice words about the president-elect in the past, but the point is those comments were in the past."
Britain's Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves
Reuters
In comments which have worried Europe’s leaders, President-elect Trump has also complained about US tax dollars funding European security and has been highly critical about Nato members not spending enough.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer said boosting defence spending to 2.5 per cent "remains the commitment" of the Government, but did not set out a timeline to reach it.
Trump has started to appoint his top team for when he takes over the presidency in January, having picked his campaign co-chairwoman Susie Wiles as his White House chief of staff.
