Cometh the hour, cometh the Mandelson: UK ambassador rides crest of a trade deal | Patrick Wintour
Peter Mandelson, with his elegant suits, smooth patter and high-end lifestyle, has always had a dark secret: an interest in the minutiae of trade deals, left over from his period as EU trade commissioner, a period when he could bore for Europe on the virtues of the Mercosur trade deal.Alongside his networking skills, and political antennae, it was his knowledge of trade that possibly persuaded Keir Starmer to take the political risk of appointing him ambassador to Washington.A pro-European social democrat with a full record of insulting remarks about Donald Trump’s racism, Lord Mandelson might not have been the obvious man to open previously closed doors in the US administration.So on Thursday in the White House Oval Office, as the US and UK announced the first trade deal of the post-“Liberation Day” era, Mandelson could be forgiven for feeling pleased with himself.For an hour, poker-faced, he stood to the left behind the president seated at his desk.
On the right was the vice-president, JD Vance, alongside the US commerce secretary, Howard Lutnick, and the US ambassador to the UK, Warren Stephens.Adopting 60 minutes’ worth of rapt poses, as he listened to Trump range across the waterfront and field media questions, he looked cast in the role of a fawning member of the Trump administration rather than an envoy from a foreign power.He smiled wanly as the president described Chuck Schumer as a Palestinian, but laughed when Trump complained the Democrats in Congress were blocking legislation only because they suffered from Trump derangement syndrome.“If they had some normal person, some stiff, sitting here they would be fine,” Trump said.Mandelson diplomatically praised Ambassador Stephens, a former banker, for getting the deal over the line, only for Trump to interject: “He has got plenty of cash,” prompting Mandelson to admit: “We need some big spenders.
” When Trump extolled the virtues of the Rolls-Royce, the ambassador offered to sell him one “at a very modest discount”.Trump replied he had a Tesla.As a founder member of the Britain Stronger in Europe campaign, Mandelson looked suitably chastened when Trump praised Brexit as “a very smart decision”.The president said without Brexit they would not have been able to make a deal.Mandelson gave two brief panegyrics about the deal’s content.
Aware that the small print is terra incognita to the president, Mandelson pitched his description of the deal at a high level, describing the deal as a movie and not a painting.Trump nodded approvingly, held the ambassador’s hand and told him what a beautiful accent he had, leading Mandelson to admit his mother would be proud.In what probably did not make great TV – the true yardstick for success in the Trump mindset – the president, struggling against sleep, listened to Starmer on speakerphone drawing a link between the lowering of tariffs on aluminium with how the UK and the US stood together in liberating Europe 80 years ago.The deal had been signed 80 years later almost to the hour, he said.But both sides probably knew this was a mutual rescue job.
Starmer could claim the deal was the first signed since Trump – as the president himself described it – blew up the world trading system.It was proof of the endurance of the ailing special relationship, and a boon to the UK car industry.Trump, for his part, could finally show his tariff war was reaping results, and not just a stock market crash and plummeting polls.Lutnick duly ladled on the praise: “They thought it impossible until Donald Trump came along.We have the best dealmaker.
He is the closer.He gets deals that no one else can.”The special relationship had got both sides out of a hole.For Trump what matters now is whether this deal can be an overture to the serious discussions ahead with China.With imports from China down by a fifth, he needed to show he can seal deals.
For the UK and for Mandelson personally, it sets him up in Washington for the first time as a top player.More work will be done on the technology deal, and a lot of details were left incomplete.The truer test for Mandelson now is whether he can use the goodwill he has acquired in that one unique hour, and in the prior negotiations, to persuade Trump’s team to change course on the defence of Ukraine.
‘No one’s buying anything now’: how tariffs are striking a blow to historic Chinatowns
On a balmy afternoon last month, Amy Tran unboxed a delivery at Yue Wa Market, a small grocery and herbal medicine shop in Los Angeles’s Chinatown that she opened 17 years ago.The package contained two dozen units of Shou Wu Chih, a Chinese herbal concoction known to rebuild kidney function and promote hair health. The shipment arrived two weeks after the US implemented new tariffs on Chinese imports, so her distributor charged her $115, a $35 markup from her previous order.Tran said she had no choice but to increase the retail price from $6 to $7. It’s a steep up-charge for her customers, who are primarily Chinese seniors living off food stamps, some barely able to afford to buy a piece of fresh fruit or vegetable
Japan-owned car battery maker secures £1bn to build second Sunderland gigafactory
The owner of the UK’s only operating gigafactory has secured £1bn in funding for a new electric car battery plant in Sunderland, in a government-backed deal that secures the future of a key project for the struggling British car industry.The funding will allow Japan’s AESC to install tooling and start production of batteries at the site, which is being built to serve Nissan’s car factory down the road. More than 1,000 people are expected to be employed there.The National Wealth Fund and UK Export Finance, both state bodies, will provide financial guarantees that unlock £680m in financing for the battery maker. A further £320m in debt funding will come from private financing as well as new equity from the business
Donald Trump suggests tariffs on China should be 80%, as investors hope for thaw in trade war – as it happened
Newsflash: Donald Trump has suggested that the US tariffs on Chinese goods should be 80%.Posting on his Truth Social site, the US president says:80% Tariff on China seems right! Up to Scott B.Scott B is presumably Treasury secretary Bessent, who is due to meet with Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng in Switzerland this weekend to discuss the trade war.An 80% tariff would be a notable reduction on the 145% which Trump imposed last month, but would still make it significantly more expensive for US companies to import goods from China than before the trade war began.Trump has also urged Beijing to open up its markets, posting:CHINA SHOULD OPEN UP ITS MARKET TO USA — WOULD BE SO GOOD FOR THEM!!! CLOSED MARKETS DON’T WORK ANYMORE!!!Reminder: trade data from China earlier today showed a drop in shipments to, and from, the US
Ten UK energy firms to pay £7m in compensation after overcharging error
Ten UK energy suppliers including EDF, E.ON and Octopus are to pay £7m in compensation and refunds after overcharging customers, after a review by the energy regulator for Great Britain.Ofgem said the suppliers had agreed to pay more than 34,000 customers compensation and refunds because of erroneously billing them more for standing charges than is allowed under the regulator’s price cap. Standing charges are daily fees added regardless of how much energy is used.The affected customers all had restricted meter infrastructure, meaning more than one electricity meter point recording usage at their property, and were erroneously overcharged between January 2019 and September 2024
US-UK trade deal has saved jobs at Jaguar Land Rover, says Mandelson
The UK’s limited trade deal with the US has immediately prevented job losses at Jaguar Land Rover’s plant in the West Midlands, Britain’s ambassador to the US has said.“This deal has saved those jobs,” Peter Mandelson said in an interview on CNN. “That’s a pretty big achievement, in my view, and I’m very pleased that the president has signed it.”Government sources said JLR had plans for imminent cuts among its 30,000 staff in the UK but had not informed unions in the hope that a deal with the US could be struck to eliminate the 25% tariffs on exports of cars to the US.Donald Trump’s import taxes had threatened to cripple British high-end carmakers before they were reduced from 27
British Airways took £40m hit from power outage that closed Heathrow
The power outage that closed Heathrow airport for a day in March cost British Airways £40m, the national carrier has revealed.The airline said it was “assessing options” but said it had no recourse to compensation from Heathrow.Airlines were infuriated by the response and recovery time from the power outage, which came about after a substation caught fire overnight. A report from the National Energy System Operator on Thursday confirmed that Heathrow took seven hours to reopen after its power was restored, allowing only a handful of flights to operate.The BA chief executive, Sean Doyle, said there was no automatic form of recovery for the airline, either from insurers or in compensation from Heathrow, for the lost revenue, refunds and costs of looking after delayed passengers
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