Shaken into action by US President Donald Trump’s imposition of reciprocal tariffs that has lead to concerns in many countries, United Kingdom Prime Minister Keir Starmer is scheduled to declare the “end of globalisation’ even as the UK is likely to hold an “economic and financial dialogue” with India on Wednesday to try to hasten a trade deal while efforts are on to secure a new agreement with Australia.

The British Prime Minister is scheduled to address the nation on Monday to declare the end of the era of globalisation following Trump’s hardline reciprocal tariffs and ‘America First’ policy that triggered a global trade war, pushing markets into the shadows of uncertainty, according to a report.

In his address slated for Monday, Starmer is also likely to admit that globalisation, which started after the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, has “failed” millions of voters and acknowledge why Trump’s economic nationalism is popular among his supporters who believe they have seen no benefits from free trade and mass immigration, an international media house reported.

Citing a senior UK official, the publication reported that while the UK does not agree with Trump’s 10 per cent “baseline” tariffs and other recent protectionist measures, the Starmer government, however, admits that a new era has begun in which Trump’s methods have massive support.

“Trump has done something that we don’t agree with, but there’s a reason why people are behind him on this. The world has changed, globalisation is over, and we are now in a new era. We’ve got to demonstrate that our approach, a more active Labour government, a more reformist government, can provide the answers for people in every part of this country,” the report cited the official as saying.

Monday’s address will be Starmer’s first significant intervention since Trump imposed sweeping charges on imports, during which he will acknowledge that the seismic global economic effects prove that the UK must “move further and faster” to boost growth with supply-side reforms.

Later this week, the British government is also planning to make pro-growth announcements, including easing regulations on electric car manufacturers and bringing forward parts of the government’s industrial strategy.

The UK is due to hold an “economic and financial dialogue” with India on Wednesday to try to hasten a trade deal, while efforts are being made to secure a new agreement with Australia.

Meanwhile, in Washington, crowds of people, angry about the way President Trump is running the country, held protest marches and rallies in scores of American cities. Thousands of protesters in cities spanning Midtown Manhattan to Anchorage, Alaska, including multiple state capitals, assailed Trump and billionaire Elon Musk’s actions on government downsizing, as also the economy, immigration and human rights.

Demonstrators voiced their anger over the Trump administration’s moves to fire thousands of federal workers, close Social Security Administration field offices, effectively shutter entire agencies, deport immigrants, scale back protections for transgender people and cut funding for health programmes.

Musk, a Trump adviser who runs Tesla, SpaceX and the social media platform X, has played a key role in the downsizing as the head of the newly created Department of Government Efficiency. He says he is saving taxpayers billions of dollars.

Asked about the protests, the White House said in a statement that “President Trump’s position is clear: He will always protect Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid for eligible beneficiaries. Meanwhile, the Democrats’ stance is giving Social Security, Medicaid, and Medicare benefits to illegal aliens, which will bankrupt these programmes and crush American seniors”.

Trump’s big raise in tariffs has triggered an escalating trade war and sent global markets plummeting. The American commander-in-chief maintained that his new levies would bring trillions of dollars of investment to the US while also criticising other countries’ retaliatory measures.

Countries targeted by Trump for higher tariffs are due to feel the heat on Wednesday. Those include assessments as high as 50 per cent for Lesotho, 49 per cent for Cambodia and 47 per cent for Madagascar.

In an all-caps social media post on Saturday last, Trump insisted: “THIS IS AN ECONOMIC REVOLUTION, AND WE WILL WIN.”

Following his announcement, Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron agreed on Saturday that a trade war was in no one’s interest as they discussed the global economic and security impact of the tariffs, particularly in Southeast Asia, Starmer’s office said in a statement.

“They agreed that a trade war was in nobody’s interests, but nothing should be off the table and that it was important to keep business updated on developments,” the statement said.

The leaders also discussed efforts to build a coalition of countries willing to support Ukraine in its war against Russia and provide peacekeeping forces in the event a ceasefire is reached.

“Following discussions between military planners in Ukraine this week, they discussed the good progress that has been made on the ‘Coalition of the Willing’, the statement said.

As Trump moves to remove trade barriers, Starmer, according to The Times, has acknowledged that with increased competition as a result, other countries will look inward to boost productivity and ramp up domestic production through supply-side reforms.

Declaring a national emergency, Trump, on April 2, announced “reciprocal” tariffs on countries which slap a higher levy on US imports and a 10 per cent baseline tariff.

“To all of the foreign presidents, prime ministers, kings, queens, ambassadors and everyone else who will soon be calling to ask for exemptions from these tariffs, I say, ‘Terminate your own tariffs, drop your barriers,” Trump said.

“April 2, 2025, will forever be remembered as the day American industry was reborn, the day America’s destiny was reclaimed, and the day that we began to make America wealthy again,” Trump went on.

Even as the EU responded with retaliatory tariffs, the UK adopted a “pragmatic approach” and got off lightly, facing only a 10 per cent baseline tariff.