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........

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