Marketing Newscast

(Edited 25 April 2025)

Chancellor Rachel Reeves has told the BBC that she thinks Britain’s trading relationship with the EU is more important than one with the USA, despite the fact she is in Washington DC currently to discuss a potential trade agreement there. “I understand why there’s so much focus on our trading relationship with the US but actually our trading relationship with Europe is arguably even more important because they are our nearest neighbours and trading partners,” she said. "Obviously I've been meeting [US Treasury Secretary] Scott Bessent this week whilst I'm in Washington, but I've also this week met the French, the German, the Spanish, the Polish, the Swedish, the Finnish finance ministers, because it is so important that we rebuild those trading relationships with our nearest neighbours in Europe, and we're going to do that in a way that is good for British jobs and British consumers." Reeves also said she had some sympathy with Trump’s trade war, saying: “I understand why President Trump wants to address some of the global imbalances there are in the system – some countries running very large and persistent trade surpluses”. Earlier, when addressing an audience of diplomats and bankers at the British Embassy in Washington, Reeves accused China in particular of manipulating its economy and building up “persistent trade surpluses” that are distorting global trade, saying: “One way in which the world has changed has been the rise in the last 25 years of China as an economy. And that has created huge benefits in terms of cheaper goods, more innovation and more opportunities to trade. But it has also brought many challenges.”

China, meanwhile, says the US must cancel its sweeping tariffs on Chinese goods entering the country if it wants trade talks. Commerce Ministry spokesman He Yadong told the BBC there have been no trade talks with the US, despite suggestions to the contrary from the Trump administration. The US should remove all "unilateral tariff measures" against China "if it truly wanted" to solve the issue, he said, adding: "The person who tied the bell must untie it". It is also reported this morning that China is considering exempting some US goods from the 125% tariffs it slapped on US imports in response to Trump’s tax on Chinese goods, an announcement that sent Asian stocks higher overnight, and that the Commerce Ministry is collecting lists of items that could be exempted. And state news agency Xinhuahas reported the outcome of a gathering attended by President Xi Jinping that concluded the country should work with the international community to “actively uphold multilateralism and oppose unilateral bullying practices” in global trade and encourage consumer spending to kickstart the economy. China should also “vigorously develop service consumption and enhance the role of consumption in stimulating economic growth,” the ruling Communist Party’s top decision-making body said.

As for Trump’s first post-‘Independence Day’ trade deal, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has hinted that could be with South Korea. Talks are progressing faster than it expected and technical negotiations will start between the two next week, he has said.

Bank of England (BoE) Governor Andrew Bailey has intimated the trade conflict means interest rates are likely to be cut next month. Speaking at an event hosted by the Institute of International Finance in Washington, Bailey said the central bank was “working through” the economic implications of US President Donald Trump’s tariff policies “because we've got an interest rate decision coming in two weeks' time". The next Monetary Policy Committee meeting to set interest rates is on 8^th May. Bailey warned that the ripple effects of trade disruption would be felt globally, and the UK would not escape, despite the fact Britan faces smaller US trade tariffs than elsewhere, and is working towards a US-UK trade deal. “It’s not just the relationship between the US and the UK, it’s the relationship between the US, the UK and the rest of the world that matters so because the UK is such an open economy,” he said. “We have to take very seriously the risk to growth. I’ve said a number of times, fragmenting the world economy will be bad for growth.” This is why, he argued, a trade deal with the US would not protect the UK from a slowdown in economic growth, but that he would be “encouraged” by such a deal.

Meanwhile, one of Trump’s Scottish golf courses is in trouble for failing to submit a confirmation statement within time, meaning it has received ‘first gazette notice’ for compulsory strike off by Companies House. Trump Turnberry, an 800-acre site, was bought by the President for £39.5m in June 2014, although he stepped down as a director after first being elected in 2016, giving control to a trust run by his family.

The warm Spring weather has led to the biggest increase in retail sales in nearly four years, according to new data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS, which registered a 0.4% increase in sales’ quantity last month, on top of a 0.7% rise in February. Sales for fashion chains and garden centres in particular were boosted, the ONS said, with sales between January and March rising by 1.6% compared with the previous quarter, the fastest pace since the spring of 2021. However food sales, particularly within supermarkets, had a poor month. Overall, the ONS said: “The bigger picture shows retail sales are up across the quarterly and annual period, but are still a little below pre-pandemic levels.”

The latest confidence index survey from GfK shows consumer confidence about their own finances, as well as those of the Treasury, dropped by four points to -23 in April, driven by an eight-point drop in how Brits see the economy and a four-point drop in how Brits see their own finances. “There are good reasons for this downturn,” Neil Bellamy, consumer insights director at GfK said. “Consumers have not only been grappling with multiple April cost increases in the form of utilities, council tax, stamp duty, and road tax, but they are also hearing dire warnings of renewed high inflation on the back of the Trump Tariffs”. He warned that despite a decrease in inflation in March, Britian could be “on the verge of another round of rapidly increasing prices” which would cause consumer confidence to “collapse”.

The Free Speech Union (FSU) is considering a Judicial Review of Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy’s decision not to force a sale of the Daily Telegraph. The newspaper was put up for auction last year after Parliament banned the ownership of British newspapers by foreign entities in a move to protect free speech and national security, as well as prevent overseas editorial interference, but the sale has stalled ever since, creating what Toby Young, the founder of the FSU, calls a ‘crisis’. Lord Young argues that owner RedBird IMI, a vehicle majority-funded by Abu Dhabi, has attempted to influence the Telegraph unlawfully by urging executives to make staff cutbacks and abandon editorial investments, and that Nandy therefore has a legal duty to act. “Why is the Secretary of State allowing this to happen, contrary to the will of Parliament?” he is quoted as saying by the newspaper. “Her failure to act means The Telegraph has been kept in a state of suspended animation, with executives unable to make vital strategic decisions about its long-term future. The duty to issue a Foreign State Intervention Notice is not discretionary, and the pre-conditions triggering her duty have already been met. The Secretary of State needs to act before it is too late.”

Modella Capital, the retail investor which has just agreed to buy WH Smith's high street division, has drawn up plans for a restructuring at The Original Factory Shop which puts almost half its 178 stores and about 900 employees' jobs at risk, Sky News reports.

And finally…. Wetherspoons has (not unsurprisingly) failed in its bid to argue that cider is not an ‘alcoholic beverage’. The pub chain has been in dispute with HMRC about the matter, which stems from a VAT dispute. Wetherspoons appealed against the rejection of its claim for VAT reimbursement on supplies of cider made between 15^th July 2020 and 31^st March 2022, a period during which there was a temporary and reduced rate of 5% and later 12.5% levied on supplies used in catering. Because cider was not included in a list of ‘alcoholic beverages’ excluded from the reduced rate – the guidance mentioned only wine, beer and spirits – the Spoons submitted a claim to the taxman for £4.85m in overpaid VAT. However, the tribunal hearing the case agreed with HMRC that it would be “anomalous and absurd” for cider to be treated as falling outside the definition of ‘alcoholic beverage’ and that the wording of the legislation was an ‘obvious oversight’. The ruling that cider is an alcoholic drink took three days in court and a 72-page written decision.