In a move that Trump has promised will ‘make America wealthy again’, the US president has laid out new tariffs on exports to the United States, as ITV News US correspondent Dan Rivers explains US President Donald Trump has finally announced his so-called “liberation day” tariffs, which could spark a global trade war.Before signing the executive order on Wednesday night, he said the measures would “make America wealthy again” adding that “this is one of the most important days, in my opinion, in American history”.Speaking in the Rose Garden at the White House, he said the new tariffs would be “reciprocal”.”That means they do it to us and we do it to them,” he said.”Very simple.Can’t get any simpler than that.”However, he went on to explain that he would be charging each country “approximately half of what they are and have been charging us”.”So the tariffs will be not a full reciprocal,” he said.”I could have done that, I guess, but it would have been tough for a lot of countries.We didn’t want to do that.”He then displayed a board showing the tariffs each country imposes on US imports, with a list of what the new “reciprocal” tariff would be for goods from each country coming into the US.For the UK, Trump said he is imposing tariffs of 10% on all British imports into the United States.He also said he will impose a tariff of 20% on the European Union, while China faces a tariff of 34%.He said that the new tariffs, include a 25% tariff on all foreign-made automobiles, would become “effective” at midnight on Wednesday.The tariffs have the potential to derail the UK government’s hopes for economic growth and have already rattled global stock markets.Trump says the barrage of “reciprocal” tariffs will boost US manufacturing and punish other countries for what he has said are years of unfair trade practices.
But by most economists’ assessments, the move threatens to plunge the economy into a downturn and damage decades-old alliances.Speaking at Prime Minister’s Questions on Wednesday, Prime Minister Keir Starmer said the UK government has “prepared for all eventualities” and “will rule nothing out”.“A trade war is in nobody’s interests and the country deserves – and we will take – a calm, pragmatic approach,” he added.But Chancellor Rachel Reeves admitted the UK could still be hit by the impact of Trump’s tariffs even if a quick deal can be struck.She said the UK would not be “out of the woods” because of the economic storm the president’s measures will unleash.This is the full list of reciprocal tariffs that Trump announced: 1.China: 34% 2.European Union: 20% 3.South Korea: 25% 4.
India: 26% 5.Vietnam: 46% 6.
Taiwan: 32% 7.Japan: 24% 8.Thailand: 36% 9.Switzerland: 31% 10.Indonesia: 32% 11.Malaysia: 24% 12.
Cambodia: 49% 13.United Kingdom: 10% 14.South Africa: 30% 15.Brazil: 10% 16.
Bangladesh: 37% 17.Singapore: 10% 18.Israel: 17% 19.Philippines: 17% 20.
Chile: 10% 21.Australia: 10% 22.Pakistan: 29% 23.Turkey: 10% 24.
Sri Lanka: 44% 25.Colombia: 10%The latest tariffs follow recent announcements of 25% taxes on car imports, levies against China, Canada and Mexico, and expanded trade penalties on steel and aluminium.Trump has also imposed tariffs on countries that import oil from Venezuela and he plans separate import taxes on pharmaceutical drugs, lumber, copper and computer chips.The tax on car imports to the US could cost an estimated 25,000 jobs in the UK, while the imposition of wider tariffs will make a range of British goods more expensive in the US, which is likely to reduce demand.The UK could also become a destination for imports diverted from the US due to the high cost, potentially flooding the market and hitting domestic producers.Subscribe free to our weekly newsletter for exclusive and original coverage from ITV News.
Direct to your inbox every Friday morning.UK negotiators are pursuing an economic agreement with the US focused on technology.Such a deal could include possible changes to the digital services tax – which imposes a 2% levy on the revenues of several major US tech companies – in exchange for a carve-out from the tariffs.Starmer did not deny that changes to the digital services tax are being considered.Easing access for US agricultural products to UK markets could also be on the table, although officials have insisted that food standards will not be lowered.White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the new tariffs would take effect immediately, telling reporters: “April 2 2025 will go down as one of the most important days in modern American history.” From Westminster to Washington DC – our political experts are across all the latest key talking points.
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