What it means for the UK as Donald Trump imposes 10% ‘Liberation Day’ tariffs

President Donald Trump confirmed his full list of 'Liberation Day' tariffs yesterday which is set to have a significant impact on the economy of nearly every country in the world.

According to the the 78-year-old, this extensive list aims to give the US back their 'economic independence'.

Trump's first three months back in the office certainly haven't been without incident, whether it be the deportation of hundreds of so-called 'illegal aliens' to one of the worst prisons on Earth, the explosive talks with Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Vladimir Putin, or the leaked war messages.

But these newly imposed tariffs are likely to have the biggest impact on the everyday person's life.

What do the tariffs involve?

A tariff means that importers will have to pay an increased tax on things brought into the US from other countries. Depending on the country, the US government will receive a percentage of the item's value. For example, if someone from the US wants to buy something from the UK, then 10 per cent of that item's value, or 25 per cent if that purchase is a car, will go straight into Trump's government's back pocket. Spare a thought for those businesses who work in Cambodia, as tariffs there will be an eye-watering 49 per cent.

Trump announced a sweeping wave of tariffs, though some countries were missing from the list (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

What has Trump said about the tariffs?

Trump dubbed the tariffs list 'our declaration of independence', despite there already being a fairly famous similarly named document over in the US. Speaking at the event in the White House Rose Garden on Wednesday, the President said: “April 2nd 2025 will forever be remembered as the day American industry was reborn. America's destiny was reclaimed and the day that we began to make America wealthy again. For decades, our country has been looted, pillaged, raped and plundered by nations near and far, both friend and foe alike.

“Americans really suffered gravely. They watched in anguish as foreign leaders have stolen our jobs, foreign cheaters have ransacked our factories and foreign scavengers that have torn apart our once beautiful American dream.

“Our country and its taxpayers have been ripped off for more than 50 years, but it is not going to happen anymore.”

What will this mean for people in the UK?

While the tariffs only currently apply to people living in the US, although the UK may consider retaliatory tariffs if no agreement can be reached using our 'special relationship' with the States, it will undoubtedly have an impact on Brits as well.

The British car company Mini is also expected to be hit hard by the tariffs (Anindito Mukherjee/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

The 25 per cent tariff on steel and aluminium imports to the US is likely to see the cost of products such as tin foil and cans, as well as cars increase. The US is the UK's single-biggest trading partner, which means that businesses in the UK could increase their prices to cope with the cost of importing. Ultimately, that will end up hurting the buyer.

Which businesses in the UK are likely to be affected by the US tarriffs?

Car retailers in particular are set to be hit heavily. It is already a difficult time for the car production industry and the likes of Jaguar Land Rover and Mini are reportedly set to be hit the hardest due to the number of exports they do to the US.

Pharmaceuticals will also struggle, as the US makes up 50 per cent of the global market for the UK Pharma Industry and is the source of most of the industry's profit.

One industry which has reportedly lost around £600 million thanks to a tariff imposed by Trump all the way back in 2019 is the Scotch whisky industry, and other food and drink exporters could also be devastated by Trump's decision.

As previously mentioned, the steel and aluminium industry will also struggle, while chemicals, which are the second-largest commodity exported from the UK to the US, will also be impacted heavily.