Dear John,

In the week where Donald Trump liberated the global economy from economic growth, Le Pen was barred from standing at the next French election and disaster continues in Myanmar, here is your weekend wire…

Wheel of misfortune

Standing in the Rose Garden of the White House, Donald Trump dropped what some economists have likened to an economic nuclear bomb on to the global economy. The application of tariffs onto friends and foes alike has sent stock markets around the world into panic and free fall. The Trump administration has placed minimum tariffs of 10% on all countries around the world, alongside an additional 25% on all foreign made cars.

Countries in Asia were most affected by these new import taxes, which seem to have been calculated by analysing the trade surplus and deficits of each country with America rather than being the reciprocal tariffs that Trump has claimed. Cambodia was slapped with a remarkable 49% tariff, whilst Laos, Sri Lanka and Vietnam also received comparable levies. The European Union was given a 20% tariff, whilst the UK has been given a 10% tariff. 

In response, the EU President Ursula von der Leyen criticised the ‘major blow to the world economy’ and has warned that should negotiations fall to bring an end to the tariffs, retaliations will follow. Business and Trade Secretary Jonathan Reynolds also announced on Thursday that the UK government was preparing a list of potential US products on which it could impose tariffs. The trade department published a 417-page list, in the first move made by the Government that has explicitly threatened retaliation after months of trying to win favour with the American administration. However, repeated noises from Downing Street suggest plan A for the government is rushing a trade deal with Trump in the hope he will lift his punitive tariffs.

Read this from our CEO Naomi Smith to discover why this is a terrible idea.

Best for Britain reacts

Responding to the news, Naomi Smith, Chief Executive of Best for Britain, said, 

“The Prime Minister’s attempts to secure an exemption may have failed but there is an alternative. Our independent research shows a common sense deal with the EU can negate the economic damage from Trump's tariffs while securing meaningful growth across the UK, and polling suggests this option is four times more popular with voters than sucking up to Trump.”

Andrew Lewin MP, Chair of the cross-party UK Trade and Business Commission said,

"We have agency in how we respond to President Trump's tariffs and the greatest opportunity for our economy lies with the UK/EU reset. If we tear down barriers to UK/EU trade, we can gain significantly more from our largest trading partner than we stand to lose as a result of the decision made in Washington."

Polling priorities

New Best for Britain polling finds Brits want the government to respond to new US tariffs by deepening ties with our main trade partners such as the EU. A poll by YouGov of over 2,000 adults undertaken on behalf of Best for Britain found that three times as many people think that increasing trade with the EU is the best course of action (43%) compared to those who think improving relations with Trump in the hope of an exemption for the UK is the way to go (14%).

Stunned & Panicked 500

The American stock markets, as well as those in Asia and Europe, fell dramatically over Thursday and Friday. On Thursday, the American market experienced the largest fall in value since March 2020 when the global economy shut down due to COVID-19. The S&P 500, the composite tracker of America’s 500 largest companies, lost nearly $2 trillion in value as it dropped by 5% in one day. Big name American companies were hit especially hard, Apple stock fell by 9.25%, Boeing by 10.5%, and Target by 10.9%. On Friday Asian markets plunged further. Japan’s Topix index fell by 3.2% in early trading, to its lowest level since August. At time of writing, Britain's FTSE 100 has fallen by around 5.8% from Thursday morning as investors worry about the knock on effects of a global trade war. 

Stocks continued to fall across America as Wall St opened at 2:30pm yesterday, shortly after the news of reciprocal 34% tariffs by China was announced around midday. Within the first 10 minutes of the markets opening on Friday the NASDAQ and S&P 500 had fallen by over 3%. China also announced that companies wishing to export rare minerals to America would need permission to do so, whilst banning the import from some of the largest American agricultural companies.

Le Pen-itentiary

Marine Le Pen, the leader and symbol of the French far-right was this week found guilty of embezzling EU funds through a fake jobs scam. Le Pen was said to be “at the heart” of a carefully organised “system”. From 2004-16, Le Pen’s National Rally party siphoned off funds meant for EU Parliamentarians for their own domestic party workers.  Le Pen was given a sentence which included a four-year prison term (suspended) and was barred from standing for election for five years, potentially ending her chances of becoming President in 2027 if her appeal is rejected. 

The ruling has been met with outrage by those on the right of French politics. Le Pen and her followers were quick to declare that French democracy had been ‘executed’ and ‘violated’. Following her conviction, Le Pen claimed  that; "The system has released a nuclear bomb, and if it is using such a powerful weapon against us, it is obviously because we are about to win the elections," - I guess fourth time’s the charm. 

However, the outrage felt by Le Pen and her allies is not shared throughout France, an opinion poll examining the public reaction to the ruling found that less than a third of the country felt that the decision to block Le Pen from the Presidency was unfair. Tellingly, those who felt the ruling was unfair (31%) was lower than the 37% who claimed they would vote for her at an election, illustrating that the sentence has cut through to some of her former supporters.

Reacting to the charges, Donald Trump waded in on his Truth Social Platform saying; “The Witch Hunt against Marine Le Pen is another example of European Leftists using Lawfare to silence Free Speech, and censor their Political Opponent, this time going so far as to put that Opponent in prison,”. Interestingly, Le Pen also received support from the Kremlin who lambasted the French courts for a  “violation of democratic norms”, I am sure the irony is not lost on any of you…

Twenty ways to fix Brexit’s growth hit

On Friday, the House of Common’s Business and Trade Committee published an important report on ways the Government can improve trade with the EU to achieve growth.

Titled, ‘Twenty ways to fix Brexit’s growth hit’ the report was informed by evidence supplied by Best for Britain including in a live appearance in front of the Committee in February.

Their recommendations include key policies put forward by Best for Britain and the UK Trade and Business Commission such as advancing regulatory alignment between the UK and EU including the mutual recognition of conformity assessments on product safety which would cut costs for consumers.

Junta continues to hurt Myanmar

It is now just over a week since a devastating earthquake struck Myanmar, the death toll has passed 3,000 with many more injured or missing as the region reels.  On Thursday, Myanmar’s junta chief Min Aung Hlaing arrived in Bangkok for a regional summit to discuss how best to recover from the earthquake, with Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal and Sri Lanka all in attendance.

This week, the UN has accused the military junta of preventing vital aid from passing through checkpoints that lead to regions controlled by rebel groups. There is a fear that the civil war currently raging in the country may worsen as the junta seek to take advantage of the carnage unleashed by the earthquake. 

Those measuring the dissemination of aid throughout the country have noticed that the junta is directing a disproportionate share of international aid towards its capital, which despite being affected by the earthquake was not the region closest to the epicenter. Before the earthquake the junta had been losing territory to the various pro-democracy rebel groups in the country, Min Aung Hlaing had recently visited Russia and Belarus in a show of authoritarian camaraderie. 

Observers hope that the renewed focus on Myanmar will remind the international community of the humanitarian crisis the country was already facing, but with a war ravaging Europe and an isolationist America, there are fears that this latest catastrophe will only entrench the rule of the junta.

Cringe Column 

Today in 1621, the Mayflower set off to found America, good to see that decision is working out very well right now…

I hope you have a wonderful weekend and enjoy the sunshine!

Joshua Edwicker

Content Officer

Best for Britain