MNI BRIEF: UK Reeves Says In US Tariff Talks, Global Hit Key

The UK's Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves told lawmakers that she spoke to her US counterpart Scott Bessent on Monday and was in talks with EU finance ministers on U.S. tariffs and the likely responses.

Reeves stressed in evidence to the Treasury Select Committee that the question of what specific UK tariff regime emerged was a secondary concern, as the big economic impact would come from having new tariffs around the world. The Office for Budget Reponsbility has already said that all Reeves headroom against her fiscal rules could be wiped out by tariffs of the scale being talked about - with the US administration set to release details later Wednesday.

She also defended the narrow headroom she has against her balanced budget rules, of less than half a percent of GDP, saying that creating more headroom would have required further tax hikes or spending cuts.