Donald Trump has revealed his package of tariffs – including a 10% levy on the UK. The British government is relieved it’s not worse but the FTSE 100 has dropped on opening. Follow below for the latest, and listen to Trump 100 analysis as you scroll.
Thursday 3 April 2025 12:04, UK
Live reporting by Bhvishya PatelandAdam McGroarty
Donald Trump has announced sweeping global tariffs that threaten to ignite an unprecedented trade war.
The US president held up a chart in the White House Rose Garden outlining what he said were the “reciprocal” tariffs each country would face.
A tariff is effectively a tax on imported goods – the US has been on the wrong end of these for decades and Trump’s hope is that his policy will encourage companies to manufacture inside the US and will “make America wealthy again”.
But the scale of Trump’s actions threatens to drive up prices in the US and cause chaos in the global economy.
His list included 10% tariffs on goods entering the US from the UK in response to the UK’s 20% VAT. As 10% is Trump’s baseline tariffs rate, the UK is seen to have come out of this better than most.
Trump confirmed the European Union will face a 20% reciprocal tariff on all other imports. China’s rate is set at 34%.
His first tariff announcement was a 25% duty on all car imports from midnight – 5am today.
“This is Liberation Day,” he told a cheering audience of supporters.
Here’s data and economics editor Ed Conway explaining the story in a minute…
Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds has said he is “disappointed” by tariffs imposed on the UK by Donald Trump.
Speaking to MPs, he said “no country was able to secure an exemption from these announcements”.
But the UK did receive the lowest reciprocal tariff globally.
He said that although this move “vindicated the pragmatic approach the UK had taken”, the “job is far from done”.
“We are disappointed by the increase in tariffs to the UK and on other countries around the world,” he said.
“The impact will be felt amongst all trading nations.”
Reynolds said since the Trump administration came into office, the UK has been “engaged in intensive discussions” on an “economic deal” between the UK and US.
“One that would not just avoid the imposition of significant tariffs but that would deepen our economic relationship,” he added.
He also said the government will “strive for a deal that supports our industries”.
Business secretary Jonathan Reynolds is making a statement to MPs.
The Speaker confirmed earlier that Reynolds will tell the Commons about “UK-US trade and tariffs”, with MPs getting the chance to ask questions afterwards.
You can follow his address in the stream above – or in the link below.
We’ll bring you any updates in our live coverage here.
One of the world’s largest container shipping firms has said Donald Trump’s tariffs amount to bad news for the global economy and trade stability.
Maersk described the announcement as “significant” but warned “it’s still too early to say with any confidence how this will ultimately unfold”.
The group also said it expected to see a potential short-term surge in air freight orders into the US before the tariffs take effect.
It also noted customers had been accelerating imports to the US ahead of Trump’s announcement as well as securing storage space.
“Moving forward, until they have a clearer picture, we generally expect customers to be a bit more cautious about their inventory levels,” it said.
Singapore has been left disappointed after Donald Trump announced 10% tariffs on the country despite a free-trade agreement and running a bilateral trade deficit with the US.
The country’s trade minister said that while it could take countermeasures under the free-trade agreement in force since 2004, it has chosen not to do so.
“Retaliatory import duties will just add cost to our imports,” Gan Kim Yong said.
He explained that Singapore will seek negotiations with the US to understand Trump’s concerns and see if they can be resolved.
“If there are no specific concerns, then it’s more difficult to argue or to negotiate,” he added.
According to the US Trade Representative website, the US had a goods trade surplus of $2.8bn with Singapore last year, an 84.8% increase over 2023.
Israel’s finance minister Bezalel Smotrich has said the country will take the “necessary steps to strengthen Israel’s industry” in response to Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Israel and the US signed a free trade agreement 40 years ago and around 98% of goods from the US are now tax-free.
But Trump imposed a 17% levy on US imports from Israel last night.
Meanwhile, Ron Tomer, president of Israel’s Manufacturers’ Association, said the tariffs could harm Israel’s economic stability, deter foreign investments, and weaken the competitiveness of Israeli companies in the US market.
“We hope and believe that the decision will be short-lived,” he said.
Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has said Donald Trump’s tariffs are”wrong” but called on Europe to avoid getting into a trade war.
The Italian government said Meloni cancelled her engagements for the day so she can focus on her country’s actions in response to Trump’s announcement.
Meloni, who is a close ally of Trump, described the 20% tariff on the European Union as being “not in the interest of either party”.
“We will do everything we can to work towards an agreement with the United States, with the goal of avoiding a trade war that would inevitably weaken the West in favour of other global players,” she said.
Earlier this morning, we told you that European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen said the EU is preparing countermeasures.
After Donald Trump held up the list of countries soon to be hit by his tariffs, many watching had one question – where’s Russia?
The US president had threatened to put secondary tariffs on Russian oil over the weekend – which increased the confusion when Russia wasn’t mentioned in the Rose Garden last night.
Now, the White House has told our US partner network NBC News that Russia is not on the list because of heavy sanctions on the country due to the war in Ukraine, and that the US currently has no trade with it.
After the Biden administration introduced the measures on Russia, the value of US-Russia trade plunged from around $35bn in 2021 to $3.5bn last year.
Despite Trump vowing to put “reciprocal” tariffs on both friends and foes, he’s also left out Cuba, Belarus and North Korea.
By Stephen Murphy, Ireland correspondent
Irish exporters are starting to come to terms with the impact of the 20% tariff announced by Donald Trump.
Maud Black co-founded Blacks Brewery & Distillery in Kinsale, Co Cork, with her husband Sam. They currently export spirits to three US states – Rhode Island, Texas and Ohio – and have ambitious expansion plans.
“It’s created a lot of uncertainty with our next shipment to the US,” Maud told Sky News at the distillery this morning.
US distributors are already “nervous” about the effect tariffs will have on their bottom line.
Could flow of US tourists be disrupted by Trump’s trade war?
A second challenge is the potential threat to American visitor numbers to the business, which boasts a visitor centre, bar and tasting rooms.
With economists predicting US households will be forced to pay thousands of dollars more on imported products, the Blacks are concerned about any decrease to US disposable income, “especially into summer next year”.
The business also imports American oak barrels and hops from the US, raising the prospect of any EU retaliatory tariffs potentially making those products more expensive.
It’s a triple threat – ironically the name of one of Blacks whiskeys.
“We’re resilient, though,” says Maud. “We’ll navigate this as a business somehow.”
Heard Island and McDonald Islands are among the remotest places on earth.
They’re accessible only to those willing to take a two-week boat voyage from Perth, Australia.
Not only that, but they are completely uninhabited – except for seals and penguins – and the last people to reach them are believed to have done so some 10 years ago.
But as we mentioned in our 10.30 post, the Trump administration has still slapped tariffs on the islands.
The islands are among several “external territories” of Australia which Trump listed separately in his tariff list to the mainland – and are subject to a 10% tariff imposed on its goods.
Despite being completely uninhabited, export data from the World Bank shows the US imported $1.4m of mainly “machinery and electrical” products from Heard Island and McDonald Islands in 2022.
Needless to say, it’s completely unclear what those goods were, seeing as there isn’t so much as a house on the island, let alone a factory.
The Australian prime minister, Anthony Albanese, said in response: “Nowhere on earth is safe.”
Reaction to Trump’s tariffs continues to come in from around the world.
Swissmem, an industry association representing tech companies in Switzerland, says: “The new tariffs are a severe blow to companies in the Swiss tech industry, which are in a difficult situation after many months of declining sales.”
A reminder that Trump imposed a 31% tariff on US imports from Switzerland yesterday.
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