Growth/Trump12 Feb 2025 07:15
The British economy is on course to expand by 1.5% this year after the budget gave a boost to public spending but could be blown off course if Donald Trump goes ahead with threatened tariffs, a leading economic thinktank has warned.
In a boost to Rachel Reeves after a bruising month of negative economic figures, the National Institute of Economic and Social Research (NIESR) upped its annual growth prediction from 1.2% to 1.5%.
However, it cautioned that an expansion of tariffs after the US president’s 10% levy on imports from China and 25% on Canada and Mexico – now paused for a month – could reduce the pace of growth to 1.3%, and by more if they hit UK businesses directly.'