- Donald Trump had originally announced on Friday a global 10pc tariff to replace a swathe of country-specific rates – Kevin Lamarque/Reuters
Britain will be hit with higher tariffs after Donald Trump unveiled sweeping new levies on the US’s global trading partners.
The president announced on Saturday tariffs would rise to 15pc from 10pc – meaning British exports will now cost significantly more for US consumers.
Britain’s baseline tariff was already at 10pc but now exporters face a significant jump in taxes they will have to pay, or add to their prices, to send goods to the US.
It came after Mr Trump had announced a global 10pc tariff on Friday to replace a swathe of country-specific rates, ranging from 10pc to 50pc, after the US Supreme Court ruled them illegal.
Mr Trump announced the increase on his social media platform, Truth Social, less than 24 hours after setting the initial 10pc.
He wrote: “I, as President of the United States of America, will be, effective immediately, raising the 10% Worldwide Tariff on Countries, many of which have been “ripping” the U.S. off for decades, without retribution (until I came along!), to the fully allowed, and legally tested, 15% level.”
William Bain, the head of trade policy at the British Chamber of Commerce, said 40,000 UK companies exporting goods would be “dismayed”.
Mr Bain added: “This will be bad for trade, bad for US consumers and businesses and weaken global economic growth. Businesses on both sides of the Atlantic need a period of clarity and certainty. Higher tariffs are not the way to achieve that.”
Paul Ashworth, the chief North America economist for Oxford Economics, said: “For the UK that thought it had secured a more advantageous 10pc rate this is something of an eff you.”
The new tariff uses a different legal power than the one struck out by the Supreme Court, but under this law, the president cannot levy different rates on different countries.
British exporters on the edge
This has left British exporters feeling the effects, facing a higher rate than before. And because the rate is global, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and his ministers will not be able to negotiate it down bilaterally.
Asked whether the Government was preparing for further US pressure, a spokesman said: “We will work with the [Trump] administration to understand how the ruling will affect tariffs for the UK and the rest of the world.
The Telegraph
