Name: Tariffs are just not welcome, full stop: ICC UK Secretary General
Uploaded: 2026-01-19T14:18:04.975Z
Duration: 3 min 2 s
Description: Chris Southworth, the Secretary General at the International Chamber of Commerce, UK urges European countries to focus on diplomacy, as President Trump threatens additional tariffs over Greenland.

Chris Southworth, the Secretary General at the International Chamber of Commerce, UK urges European countries to focus on diplomacy, as President Trump threatens additional tariffs over Greenland.

London

The Secretary General of ICC UK discussed the UK's significant political, economic, and defense interests in the ongoing dispute over potential US tariffs targeting NATO Northern Alliance countries. He stressed that tariffs are unwelcome and add unnecessary complexity for businesses, particularly in sectors such as steel and automotive, which are already facing challenges.

He noted that while tariffs have been threatened at rates up to 30%, the actual impact is often lower, and not all proposed tariffs are implemented. The Secretary General advocated for diplomatic engagement and multilateral cooperation, especially given the UK's trade relationships and constitutional ties with countries like Canada.

'Tariffs are just not welcome, full stop': ICC UK Secretary General

Yeah, I mean, the UK has a lot of interest in this. So we're the largest economy and largest military presence on the northern flank of Europe. We're part of that NATO Northern Alliance. That's the eight countries that are being threatened with tariffs. So we've got political interests. We've got economic interests. We've got defense interests. But we've also got constitutional interests because don't forget, Canada is also part of this conversation. And they're part of the Commonwealth. Chris, what about the way in which tariffs might be applied here by the US? We don't really have a lot of detail, do we, in terms of where this stands in relationship, for example, to the free trade deals that the UK and the US have both struck and the EU are potentially going to strike. You have to be ratified, of course. Yeah, you're absolutely right. I think we have to be calm and diplomatic here. But don't forget the tariffs. Tariffs are just not welcome full stop. There's enough disruption going on out there for business. So we don't want more tariffs and don't need more tariffs because this conversation around Greenland should be a joined up conversation. It's in all of our economic defense and interests to find a solution to that problem. But don't forget the tariffs. And it's hard to keep track of the tariffs as well. Super complicated for anybody, let alone a business trying to navigate it all. But if you actually look at the raft of tariffs that were threatened last year, 2025, that can be anything from 10% up to 30%, depending on what country and sector you're in. In reality, that's 2% to 5% in the main. So that's how it's translated. And then that sort of creeps up a bit to sort of 15% for some sectors like automotive. So the threat of tariff and the reality of tariff are two quite different things. And there's also tariffs that have been threatened and not actually been implemented. So there's no immediate guarantee that just because the US is threatening us all with tariffs that actually those tariffs will happen. I think what we have to focus on is diplomacy and finding the appropriate solution. Chris, you just mentioned autos there. Presumably as regards to the UK economy, that would be the sector you'd be most concerned for. Well, steel and auto are the two, aren't they, that are getting thumped really hard from US tariffs. And again, absolutely unnecessary. You know, the UK may actually sort of value add cars to the US car market. And British steel is very specialist steel that the US don't make and require for some of their military equipment. So that doesn't make any sense either. You know, we just need to have the conversation and support the conversation in diplomatic channels with the government and not get into a tit for tat trade war. You know, there are instruments that the Europeans certainly can use, but we have to be very attentive to the fact that we're all in trade deals. We have shared interests in the Arctic. It's not just about the US, it's much bigger than that. And we have constitutional responsibilities to also work with Canada in all of this as well.

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