Washington Examiner’s Editor-in-Chief Hugo Gurdon said it is “very important” for both the United States and Britain to reduce the latter country’s tariffs, saying many believe that tariffs slow investments.

President Donald Trump is spending his second day in the United Kingdom on Thursday, and is meeting with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer at Chequers, a 16th-century manor about 40 miles west of London. Gurdon said Thursday is a contrast from how “ceremonial” Trump’s arrival was on Wednesday when he met with King Charles III and both attended a state banquet.

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As Trump continued his state visit, Gurdon said the U.S. and Britain are on “the brink” of reducing the tariffs Trump placed on the U.K., decreasing steel and aluminum tariffs from 25% to 10%.

Britain would obviously like that reduced to zero, and there are a lot of people, including the Washington Examiner, who don’t think tariff policy is a great idea. It can stanch investment, etc., and it is interesting that you have the president and the prime minister signing deals for major investment. On the tech side, there are a lot of people who would say that … tariffs stanch investment because it takes money out of corporations, it takes money out of consumers’ pockets, and that is not an inducement to investment,” Gurdon said on NewsmaxTV’s The National Report.

“Definitely, however, the two sides want business deals, they want diplomatic deals and agreement as well,” Gurdon said.

Hopes that the U.K. would eliminate its 25% tariffs on U.K. steel exports did not materialize before Trump’s visit. However, Trump said he’d be open to “helping” reach a better deal.

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Gurdon also spotlighted the “irony” of Trump meeting with Starmer at Chequers, as the United Nations is working toward recognizing a sovereign Palestinian state. Gurdon said Chequers was given to Britain in 1917, the same year the Balfour Declaration committed Britain to “the establishment of a Jewish state,” and that Britain has been “backtracking” on this commitment over the past 100 years.

Trump said on Thursday, “We have to remember October 7th,” the day the Hamas terrorist group attacked Israel and called for the release of the group’s hostages. Trump said this is one of the few disagreements he has with Starmer, who is set to formally recognize Palestine as a state after Trump’s visit.