Rachel Reeves dashes hopes of early breakthrough in UK-US trade deal

Rachel Reeves has dashed hopes of an early breakthrough in trade talks with the Trump administration, stressing that the UK is “not going to rush” into a deal. Reeves travelled to Washington for the spring meetings of the IMF with hopes of securing a carve-out from the 25% levies on cars, aluminium and steel. Hopes of an early agreement were undermined on Wednesday by a leaked document setting out new US demands. “I’m not going to give a commentary on the numbers but I have always been clear that I believe in free trade,” Reeves said. British ministers presented a draft text of a deal to their US counterparts even before Trump had announced his tariffs.