Business confidence already close to two-year lows before Trump triggered trade war
Business confidence was close to a two-year low even before Donald Trump triggered a trade war, a survey showed.
S&P Global said the UK’s dominant services sector, which includes everything from hotels to accountants and hairdressers, was already gloomy last month. And Trump’s tariffs will deal a further blow.
Rain Newton-Smith, the CBI chief executive, said: ‘There are no winners in a trade war.
'The announcements are deeply troubling and will have significant ramifications around the world.’
The Federation of Small Businesses said 59 per cent of small exporters sell into the US.
‘Tariffs will cause untold damage to small businesses trying to trade their way into profit while the domestic economy remains flat,’ said policy chief Tina McKenzie.
Bleak outlook: S&P Global said the UK’s dominant services sector, which includes everything from hotels to accountants and hairdressers, were already gloomy last month
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Sir Keir Starmer warned tens of thousands of British jobs are at risk.
The Prime Minister admitted pain was looming as he met business leaders, including AstraZeneca boss Pascal Soriot, Charles Woodburn of BAE Systems and Jaguar Land Rover’s Richard Molyneux.
S&P Global’s UK economy activity index rose from 50.5 in February to a five-month high of 51.5 in March – but ‘signalled only a relatively subdued rate of expansion’.
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