US President Donald Trump greets Britain’s Prime Minister Keir Starmer throughout a summit on Gaza, Egypt, in Sharm el-Sheikh on Oct. 13, 2025.
Evan Vucci | Afp | Getty Pictures
U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday reportedly warned the U.Ok. that it could be “very harmful” for the nation to do enterprise with China, after London and Beijing introduced steps aimed toward mending ties.
After years of strained relations, China and the U.Ok. wish to develop a long-term strategic partnership following a high-stakes assembly between Chinese language President Xi Jinping and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
Starmer is on a 4-day go to to China, the primary journey by a British prime minister in eight years, signaling an try at resetting bilateral ties.
On the sidelines of premiere of the “Melania” movie on the Kennedy Middle, Trump was requested to touch upon Starmer’s efforts to get into enterprise with China, and he stated that “it is very harmful for them to do this,” Reuters reported.
China on Thursday agreed to halve its import tariffs on British whisky to five% from 10% and confirmed visa-free travels for British nationals visiting China for below 30 days, based on Downing Road. In the meantime, British drugmaker AstraZeneca will make investments $15 billion in China via 2030 to develop medicines manufacturing and analysis and improvement within the nation.
Starmer has introduced a delegation of practically 60 British enterprise executives and group leaders on this journey. He hailed the agreements on visa-free journey and decreasing whisky tariffs as “actually vital entry, symbolic of what we’re doing with the connection.
U.Ok.’s diplomatic shift seems to reflect that of Canada which signed a commerce settlement with China earlier this month following a go to by Prime Minister Mark Carney, as Ottawa seems to diversify commerce and funding companions amid persistent frictions with Washington.
On Canada, Trump stated that “it is much more harmful for Canada to get into enterprise with China. Canada just isn’t doing properly … You possibly can’t have a look at China as the reply,” Reuters reported.
“President Xi is a pal of mine, I do know him very properly … The very first thing they are going to do is say you are not allowed to play ice hockey anymore. Canada’s not going to love that,” Trump stated.
Trump has threatened to impose a 100% tariff on Canadian items if Ottawa moved ahead with a commerce cope with China, in a pointy reversal from his earlier feedback that such a deal could possibly be “a superb factor.”
Earlier than his journey to Beijing, Starmer stated in an interview with Bloomberg that Britain wouldn’t have to decide on between the U.S. and China, saying that the nation can proceed to strengthen financial ties with Beijing with out angering Trump or harming relations with the U.S.
“We have very shut relations with the US — after all, we need to — and we are going to preserve that enterprise, alongside safety and protection,” he stated.
“Starmer is cautious of alienating Washington. However the U.Ok.’s squeezed place between the 2 superpowers is structural, not a quirk of the Trump administration,” stated Gabriel Wildau, managing director at political consultancy Teoneo.
Optionality, quite than a full reset
Wildau urged a broad U.Ok.-China commerce deal is unlikely as Starmer is pursuing a “re-balancing” of the nation’s overseas relations, quite than a structural reset with China which will appeal to “undesirable consideration” from Western allies.
The identical diplomatic posturing applies to different “center energy” leaders who’ve visited China in latest months, he added.
A flurry of Western leaders, unsettled by Trump’s unpredictable overseas coverage and “America First” agenda, have been weighing nearer ties with Beijing — even on the threat of frightening Trump.
Since November, Beijing has hosted French President Emmanual Macron, South Korean President Lee Jae Myung, Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo, German Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil and Irish Taoiseach Micheal Martin — the primary go to by an Irish chief in 14 years.
“Quite than realignment, these governments are in search of optionality by creating issue-specific coalitions with China and one another to cut back dependence on the U.S.,” Wildau famous.
