If he expects other countries meekly to accept tariff hikes, he will be sorely disappointed.
U.S. and Mexican negotiators worked through the day Sunday to conclude their talks, which focus primarily on autos that will be accepted without tariffs in the United States.
Others viewed it as a rigorous and therefore appropriate progression (since 1988) and that valuable lessons had been learnt from other countries, in particular Tonga (where they accepted a top tariff of 20% in their accession package).
Number 10 sources insisted they would maintain to that position, despite hopes in Brussels that May's more interventionist stance might make her willing to accept higher tariffs.
Norway lost 20,000 jobs and chunks of its fish-processing industry to Denmark and Poland because of having to accept EU tariffs, underlining how duties can distort markets.
It is possible for the UK to trade under World Trade Organisation rules, accepting existing tariffs and regulations, but that is unlikely to bring a big boost to exports and turn around a long-term decline in the manufacturing sector, which is smaller now than before the 2008 crash.
"Of course, one could say, 'Okay, to avoid further damage we'll accept those tariffs (without retaliating),' but even that is risky because nobody knows whether that would be sufficient for Trump," said Peter Beyer, coordinator of transatlantic relations for Merkel's conservative party.
But if Britain leaves abruptly without a deal, it will lose its trade privileges overnight, and it probably will have to accept new tariffs, border inspections and document checks that weren't necessary while it was a member of the unified bloc.
Commentators say this has had a knock-on effect, with middle-ranking universities sucking up some students who before might have accepted places at "lower tariff" institutions.
Leaving the EU thus means leaving behind the single market and the common external tariff, accepting the risk that a Britain might then face an array of tariff and non-tariff restrictions like the other "outs" – Turkey, say, or Ukraine.
The foreign companies would certainly like a better deal, but they've been unwilling to make the tradeoff that Tesla is apparently prepared to accept: a 25% tariff on cars built in a China free-trade zone like the one near Shanghai — the same tariff applied to any company that exports a motor vehicle into China.
