Chris Mason: UK relief but not delight at Trump tariffs
Office lights in some corners of Westminster were on much later than usual last night.
Why? Because ministers and officials, just like so many others, were watching the telly to see what US President Donald Trump would have to say, the Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds among them.
The president, brandishing a giant rectangular piece of card packed with the new tariff increases, unleashing waves of anxiety across factory floors, boardrooms and government ministries the world over.
Folk in government in the UK had picked up a sense of the mood music – a sense that the UK was "in the good camp rather than the bad camp" as one figure put it to me – but they had no idea in advance precisely what that would mean.
We now do know what it means - a 10% tariff on the UK's exports to the US.
I detect a sense of relief among ministers, but make no mistake they are not delighted – the tariffs imposed on the UK will have significant effects, and the tariffs on the UK's trading partners will have a profound impact on jobs, industries and global trading flows in the weeks, months and years to come.
It will be "hugely disruptive," as one government source put it.
There is an acute awareness in particular about the impact on the car industry.
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Negotiations with the US over a trade deal continue.
I am told a team of four UK negotiators are in "pretty intensive" conversation with their US counterparts – talking remotely, but willing to head to Washington if signing a deal appears imminent.
Let's see.
Those on the UK side characterise the discussions as "more like a corporate conversation than a trade negotiation", putting that down to the personnel, outlook and biographies of plenty in the Trump administration.
The other point being seized upon at Westminster, in particular by the Conservatives, is the difference between how the UK is being treated compared to the European Union – with plenty pointing to it as a dividend of Brexit.
The Liberal Democrats, by contrast, think the UK should work with Commonwealth and European allies to stand up to President Trump and impose retaliatory tariffs "if necessary".
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer is meeting affected businesses on Thursday and the business secretary will address the Commons.
The next chapter of this economic revolution begins now, with how the world reacts, in rhetoric and retaliation.
This in itself will have a huge impact.
Whether, how and when some choose to respond will have economic and political consequences at home and abroad.
The global story of Donald Trump's tariffs is only just beginning.
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