A UK conversation focused on a trade deal with the US is depressingly small-minded. The best way to beat tariffs is to lower our own barriers and trade with the world, says Tim Focas

The global trade war is now an all-out economic slugfest, with Britain caught in the middle. President Trump has slapped a 10 per cent tax on nearly all British goods entering the US. A retaliatory move, he claims, against the UK’s own duties on American imports. The EU is preparing to hit back following Trump’s 20 per cent tariff hit on them, with $28bn in tariffs on US goods ranging from bourbon to semiconductors. 

Yet amid all this chaos, the UK conversation remains depressingly small-minded. How do we secure a bilateral trade deal with the US? How do we respond to Trump? How do we play nice in the next round of negotiations? We’re asking all the wrong questions.

Instead of chasing deals with protectionist partners, Britain should take a bold, independent step that would immediately benefit its economy, consumers and international standing. We should embrace unilateral free trade, cutting all tariffs to zero on imports from every country – no strings attached.

That’s not a radical idea. As the economist Milton Friedman once argued, “the benefits of free trade do not depend on reciprocity”. He was spot on. Tariffs are not a weapon to use against other countries – they’re a tax on your own people. When the UK taxes Chinese electronics or Kenyan tea, it’s not Beijing or Nairobi who pay the price. It’s British families at the tills.

Tariffs are not a weapon to use against other countries – they’re a tax on your own people

Unilateral free trade would bring instant, tangible benefits. First, lower prices across the board. In a cost-of-living crisis, nothing could be more welcome than cheaper clothes, tech, food and fuel. Second, it would streamline thousands of costly customs processes, eliminating red tape and slashing bureaucracy for UK businesses. Third, it would make Britain a magnet for global trade and investment, unshackled from the slow paced nature of international negotiations.

But here’s the problem – how can Britain pursue unilateral free trade given our current obligations under the Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA) with the EU, not to mention our commitments under the World Trade Organisation (WTO)? First, the TCA mandates some alignment with EU regulations, and lowering tariffs unilaterally could provoke concerns from Brussels about “unfair competition” or market distortion. However, the UK’s commitment to the WTO obligations would actually work in our favour in this case. If Britain chose to reduce tariffs to zero for one country or bloc, it would need to extend that same treatment to all WTO members. This means the UK could set its tariffs at zero across the board, including for the EU without breaking any international laws.