If it's in our national interest then we should consider that, we should go that far, he told the BBC's Laura Kuenssberg. In a riposte to some cabinet colleagues who have suggested the UK should seek to form a customs union with the EU, Starmer said he did not think that was the answer. We are better looking to the single market rather than the customs union for our further alignment, he said.
The EU is introducing a carbon border adjustment mechanism (CBAM) on 1 January targeting imports produced using carbon-intensive methods, such as steel, glass and fertiliser. Businesses have been concerned about the impact of the EU tax on UK consumer bills and the prospect of cheap goods originally destined for Europe, such as Chinese steel, flooding the British market. The UK is introducing its own version of the tax but not until 2027.
Emmanuel Macron emphasized the need for European countries to reduce their dual dependencies on the US and China, stating that such dependencies threaten fair trade and economic sustainability.
