Donald Trump has revealed his tariffs, hitting the UK with a baseline 10 per cent charge and the EU with a 20 per cent levy.
Announcing his plans to tackle a trade deficit that he branded a ‘national emergency’, the US President brandished a board titled Reciprocal Tariffs, which he claimed showed what other countries charged America, alongside the lower rates he would charge them.
Stating that he was ‘finally putting America first’, Trump revealed his baseline tariffs, with the UK emerging in a favourable position at 10 per cent, compared to Europe’s 20 per cent, China’s 34 per cent and Vietnam’s 46 per cent.
Britain’s motor industry has also been hit by 25 per cent tariffs on all foreign made cars imported to the US.
Stock markets in Europe fell on Wednesday, as the continent’s leaders warned that Trump’s trade war would wreak havoc on the global economy.
As investors fretted ahead of the US president’s ‘Liberation Day’ announcement at the White House, European Central Bank president Christine Lagarde said tariffs would be ‘negative the world over’.
And Chancellor Rachel Reeves warned that the UK will be hurt by tariffs even if ministers successfully agree a deal with the US.
Trading places: US President Donald Trump clutched his report as he delivered his tariffs
Speculation over what Trump was planning has rattled financial markets in recent weeks and S&P futures dropped after the tariff announcement.
Susannah Streeter, head of money and markets, at Hargreaves Lansdown said: ‘A brutal round of trade top Trumps is sending a shiver through global markets.
‘As threats have turned into facts, the plan for blanket tariffs on US trading partners has unnerved investors.
‘As Trump has ripped up trade norms, it’s spread fresh worries about the implication for the global economy. Futures trades indicate a sharp fall for the S&P 500 with other indices around the world looking set to follow suit.’
Donald Trump’s board revealed tariffs he says the US is charged and what it will charge back
The major European benchmarks have made gains so far this year, however, with the FTSE 100 up more than 5 per cent in London despite Wednesday’s slide of 0.3 per cent to 8,608.48.
The German DAX fell 0.66 per cent yesterday but is still up more than 11 per cent in 2025 – boosted by the promise of increased defence spending and billions of investment in infrastructure.
By contrast, US markets are lower, with the technology-heavy Nasdaq down close to 9 per cent.
Gold prices hovered near record highs at $3,133 per ounce yesterday as investors continued to pile in to save haven assets due to the uncertainty.
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Streeter added: ‘A baseline 10 per cent tariff is the starting point, with 20 per cent tariffs set to land on imports from the EU, and much steeper duties imposed on countries in Asia with China facing 34 per cent duties.
‘There will also be 25 per cent tariffs slapped on foreign made cars sold in the US.
‘The UK may appear to have been dealt a better hand compared to some nations, but given it’s so intertwined with the global economy, a drag on growth looks inevitable.
‘The government is taking a pragmatic approach, and hoping for a trade deal, which may alleviate more of the tariff burden, but the outcome is uncertain.’
Larry Fink, the boss of Blackrock, this week warned that investors are more worried about the economy ‘than at any time in recent memory’, saying ‘protectionism has returned with force’.
Some leaders, including in the EU and Canada, have said they are prepared to retaliate, adding to investor nerves that the trade war will escalate.
But there were hopes that the President will be willing to negotiate.
Speaking in Dublin, Lagarde said: ‘It will be negative the world over and the density and the durability of the impact will vary depending on the scope, on the products targeted, on how long it lasts, on whether or not there are negotiations.
‘Let’s not forget quite often those escalations of tariffs, because they prove harmful, even for those who inflict it, lead to negotiation tables where people actually sit down and discuss and eventually remove some of those barriers.’
Europe has been a particular target of Trump and his advisers’ annoyance over trade the EU countries got a lower tariff level than many others.
Among the favoured countries that got the same 10 per cent tariffs as the UK were Brazil, Argentina, Australia, Turkey and Saudi Arabia.
Warning: Ahead of Donald Trump (left) giving his ‘Liberation Day’ announcement, ECB president Christine Lagarde (right) said tariffs would be ‘negative the world over’
And Reeves warned that the UK economy will feel the effects of tariffs regardless of whether a deal with the US is secured.
‘If we are able to secure an economic agreement with the United States… it doesn’t mean that somehow we are therefore out of the woods and not impacted by tariffs,’ she told MPs on the Treasury select committee.
‘The specific tariffs on the UK are less relevant to the growth and inflation impacts than the global picture because we are an open trading economy and depressed demand from overseas because of tariffs, higher inflation overseas because of tariffs has a direct impact on the UK.’
Trump has already imposed new 20p tariffs on imports from China and 25 per cent levies on swathes of goods from Mexico and Canada.
He has also put a 25 per cent global tariff on imports of steel and aluminium and pledged to put the same rate on car imports.
‘This isn’t protectionism. It’s restoration,’ insisted Trump’s trade adviser Peter Navarro.
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