Reeves's desperate US trade mission - as President sparks more turmoil (2025)

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Rachel Reeves will step up Labour’s push for a US trade deal today, as Donald Trump wreaks more market mayhem.

The Chancellor will fly to Washington this afternoon to meet with US treasury secretary Scott Bessent about a trade deal that eases American levies on UK exporters.

Meanwhile, US stocks and the dollar dropped again yesterday after Mr Trump escalated his attacks on the US Federal Reserve chairman for not cutting interest rates.

In a Truth Social post, Mr Trump branded Jerome Powell ‘Mr Too Late, a major loser’, warning failure to cut interest rates could spark a ‘slowing of the economy’.

His comments triggered a sell-off that saw the Dow Jones index shed more than 1,000 points – a fall of almost 3 per cent – with the dollar dropping against both the pound and the euro.

Mr Powell angered the Trump administration last week by warning the tariff war would raise costs for US consumers and drive inflation, making it harder to cut interest rates.

Mr Trump yesterday claimed that energy costs are ‘way down’ and food prices ‘substantially lower’.

He added: ‘There can almost be no inflation, but there can be a SLOWING of the economy unless Mr. Too Late, a major loser, lowers interest rates, NOW. Europe has already “lowered” seven times.’

Mr Trump has so far introduced a blanket tariff of 10 per cent on all goods, but put a 25 per cent rate on UK steel, aluminium and car exports. In the Chancellor’s visit, she will take part in meetings of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank, which is expected to downgrade its forecasts for global growth in the fallout of the tariffs.

Ms Reeves is expected to push for free trade and overseas investment into the UK, warning that tariffs threaten both the global and British economies.

Speaking ahead of what will be her first face to face talk with Mr Bessent, she insisted that any deal would ‘always have front and centre British national interest’.

While Labour MPs are calling for Mr Trump to be barred from addressing Parliament in an upcoming state visit later this year, ministers are desperate to seal a trade agreement with him before a London EU summit in May.

One Whitehall source said the conference, at which the PM hopes to ‘reset’ relations with the EU, would inevitably be ‘something of a love-in’ with Brussels, which could antagonise Mr Trump and kill off a deal if it has not been finalised.

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