UK manufacturers to cut jobs ‘within weeks unless ministers can strike trade deal’

The chancellor, Rachel Reeves, is travelling to the US to hold her first in-person meeting with her American counterpart, Scott Bessent. Photograph: Danny Lawson/PA

Britain’s manufacturers will start cutting jobs “within weeks” unless the government can strike a deal to safeguard the UK economy from Donald Trump’s trade war, industry leaders have told MPs.

Senior executives from the UK’s automotive, manufacturing and energy sectors warned a committee of MPs to expect job losses this summer if the US moves ahead with a swathe of global trade tariffs set out by Trump earlier this month.