UK minister warns Trump that trade wars help no one
- World
- AP
- Published Date: 12:00 | 04 March 2018
- Modified Date: 05:53 | 04 March 2018
A senior member of British Prime Minister Theresa May's Cabinet has chastised U.S. President Donald Trump for threatening a trade war with the European Union.
Cabinet Office Minister David Lidington's comments Sunday on the BBC came after Trump threatened to tax European cars if the EU boosts tariffs on American products in response to the president's plan to boost duties on steel and aluminum.
Lidington says "the United States is not taking an advisable course in threatening a trade war," adding that "trade wars don't do anybody any good."
Lidington also says Britain's experience shows that protectionism doesn't work. He says when the U.K. tried to protect its car industry in the 1960s and '70s "we lost all our export markets" because other countries were more competitive.