Damien

I think tariffs only work if they're targeted to key sectors or national interests rather than applied indiscriminately. If you apply it to everything, it just pushes prices up and protects your companies from having to compete, thus undermining them globally.

Where it does make sense is if you want to protect domestic industries, either because they're vital or because they're being undercut unfairly. Putting tariffs on steel coming into the UK to help protect British steel manufacturing because it's a matter of national security to be able to produce it domestically, and they can't compete with cheap Chinese steel.

But it makes no sense to put a tariff on incoming cars to protect British car companies. Make better cars.