Buried in the trade agreement between Britain and the United States was a seemingly innocuous line: “The UK will work to promptly meet US requirements on the security of the supply chains of steel and aluminium products intended for export to the US.”
That line now threatens to put Britain in the middle of President Trump’s trade war with China. Beijing has gone public in its criticism of the deal, which it believes is deliberately designed to remove some Chinese products from western supply chains.
“Co-operation between states should not be conducted against or to the detriment of the interests of third parties,” China’s foreign ministry said in a matter-of-fact statement.
Rachel Reeves visits a Brompton bicycle shop in Beijing during her visit in January
JADE GAO
The concern in China is that this trade deal could set a precedent
