Campaigners have called on the Government to mover "further and faster" in deepening ties with the EU to shield the UK from US tariffs after new statistics reveal the UK economy shrank by 0.3% in April.
The ONS reported that the implementation of tariffs by the US saw the the greatest monthly fall in goods exports to the US on record, a decisive factor in today's findings.
However, landmark research commissioned by Best for Britain and undertaken by Frontier Economics found that the UK Government can completely shield the UK economy from US tariffs by persuing a policy of deep alignment with the EU on goods and services.
Indeed the research showed that even in the face of Trump's trade war, this would actually drive growth across the country and particularly in the West Midlands, East Midlands, North East and Yorkshire.
Despite positive progress last month, campaigners are now calling on the Prime Minister to move faster in deepening ties with the EU to shield UK the UK from even more economic pain.
Naomi Smith, Chief Executive of Best for Britain said,
“Our research showed that without deeper alignment with the EU, US tariffs would shrink the UK economy by up to 0.7% in the long term. With the very short term hit being nearly half that, this scenario is proving correct.
“However, the same analysis showed that by going further and faster in deepening ties with the EU for all our industrial sectors, the Prime Minister would not only shield us from Trump's trade war but deliver significant growth, across the whole country, meaning more money for public services, more jobs and higher wages.”