Brussels is on a fresh collision course with the UK over plans to promote a “buy European” plan which could shut out British firms and risks breaching the post-Brexit trade deal.

Sir Keir Starmer is pushing for closer economic ties with the EU under his “reset” of relations with the continent , which he hopes will boost the UK economy.

But trade experts and businesses have raised the alarm about a string of recent moves towards greater protectionism in Europe, which come in response to Donald Trump’s trade wars and the rise of Chinese industry.

The UK Government has refused to criticise the EU publicly over the policy shifts, but The i Paper understands ministers are privately pushing their Brussels counterparts not to exclude Britain from future economic plans and to honour the

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