Britain should use Brexit freedoms to CUT tariffs and become 'Singapore-on-Thames' amid Donald Trump's trade war, says Jeremy Hunt
Britain should use its post-Brexit freedoms to become 'Singapore-on-Thames' amid Donald Trump's global trade war, according to former chancellor Jeremy Hunt.
The Tory MP, who ran the Treasury between 2022 and July last year, said the US President's sweeping tariffs meant it was now 'make up your mind time' for the UK.
He urged the Labour Government to steer away from retaliatory measures against Mr Trump's punitive trade levies, warning this would only cause more economic harm.
But Mr Hunt also demanded Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer offer a 'much clearer vision as to the type of post-Brexit economy we want to build'.
The ex-Cabinet minister said Britain should not 'close up' as America and the EU were likely to do, but instead 'remain resolutely open' with 'fewer barriers' to trade.
'Britain has always flourished as one of the most open and outward facing economies in the world,' he wrote in the Telegraph.
In his call for the UK to copy Singapore, Mr Hunt revived an economic idea that many Brexiteers supported following the 2016 vote to quit the EU.
This foresaw Britain as a low-tax nation with lighter regulation and low tariffs, but critics warned against moving away from the European social model.
Britain should use its post-Brexit freedoms to become 'Singapore-on-Thames' amid Donald Trump 's global trade war, according to former chancellor Jeremy Hunt
In his call for the UK to copy Singapore, Mr Hunt revived an economic idea that many Brexiteers supported following the 2016 vote to quit the EU
Donald Trump has sent global financial markets into meltdown following his announcement of 'reciprocal tariffs' on nations across the world
Mr Hunt called for Labour to 'resist the siren song of protectionism' despite the likelihood of other countries also imposing tariffs in response to Mr Trump's actions.
The US President has sent global financial markets into meltdown following his announcement of 'reciprocal tariffs' on nations across the world.
The majority of British goods will be subject to a 10 per cent import tax, while UK car, steel and aluminium exports have been hit with a 25 per cent tariff.
Mr Hunt said the Government was likely to try and 'muddle through the crisis trying to offend as few people as possible'.
'With Ukraine's future in the balance, there are sound reasons not to cause unnecessary offence to the President,' he wrote.
'But the Prime Minister's diplomacy needs to be combined with a much clearer vision as to the type of post-Brexit economy we want to build.
'Trump's trade reforms will force on ministers a succession of rapid decisions that will shape the economy for years to come.
'In order to get them right, we need to know where we are heading.
'Are we going to gradually close up as our two biggest trading partners, the US and the EU, are likely to do? Or are we going to remain resolutely open?'
Mr Hunt noted how financial services, technology, life sciences, creative industries and education had 'all flourished' in Britain 'because of openness to talent and ideas'.
'Far from holding us back, it has made us globally competitive, turning us into the world's second largest services exporter,' he wrote.
'If we put up fewer barriers to goods imports, there will be some short term pain as we cope with a glut of exports being redirected from the US.
'But if we hold our nerve, lower input prices and more innovation will make British factories extremely competitive. More people will want to build their factories here as a result.
'It won't be easy to resist the siren song of protectionism. But, as countries like Singapore demonstrate, openness can still deliver excellent results.
'Over the last half century, its living standards have grown five times faster than ours.
'Those who deride the idea of 'Singapore-on-Thames' fail to understand that the heart of their success has not been a harder-edged social policy but the building up of internationally competitive businesses through willingness to trade.
'But Singapore didn't invent free trade. That honour belongs to Britain. Even if others turn their backs on it, we should remember the benefits of one of our greatest gifts to the world.'
