BRITAIN is threatening tariffs on 8,000 US products including toilet seats — as Donald Trump’s trade war sent world economies down the pan yesterday.
A staggering $2.2trillion was wiped off stock with the Nasdaq suffering its biggest tanking since the start of Covid.
PM Sir still hopes to but has lined up US goods for import taxes within weeks.
Trump's tariff blitz triggered a sharp sell-off of shares, with traders shocked by the size of levies imposed on even the US’s closest allies.
Furious governments threatened to whack tariffs on US imports.
The PM repeated his priority was to secure a trade deal with the US which would reduce or remove the ten per cent tariff imposed on all UK exports, and and steel.
But, in a toughening of the Government’s stance, it is drawing up a list of 8,000 US products it could hit with retaliatory tariffs if no pact is agreed by May 1.
Secretary published a 417-page list of American products that could be clobbered.
Toilet seats are included, along with motorcycles, Jack Daniel’s and Jim Beam whiskey and Levi’s jeans.
US-made vacuum cleaners, sports shoes and chopsticks are also in our crosshairs. Sir Keir vowed: “Nothing is off the table.”;
And at a breakfast meeting, he told bosses of firms such as , and Airbus that the UK has a “range of levers at our disposal”;.
Later at an event in Chesterfield, the PM said the UK was heading into a new era but that “we shouldn’t jump into a trade war”;.
He added: “I need to act in the national interest. The choice before us is whether to jump into retaliatory action with both feet at the get-go, or continue with our calm approach to negotiate a trade deal to mitigate tariffs if we can.”;
Yesterday the slumped by 1.55 per cent to 8,474.7 points while the FTSE 250 fell by 2.33 per cent to 19,210.5 points.
Retailer saw shares dropping by 7.89 power cent. and BP also tanked.
Yesterday, referring to the US, he wrote on his Truth Social account: “The operation is over! The patient will be far stronger, bigger, better and more resilient than ever before.”;
The tariffs imposed on the UK were at the lowest end of his sliding scale —.
In , subject to a 20 per cent tariff, France’s CAC 40 stock market closed down by 3.3 per cent while Germany’s DAX dropped three per cent.
German sportswear giant adidas tumbled by almost 12 per cent as it makes most of its shoes in Asia, hit by hefty tariffs. Rivals and Puma suffered heavy falls.
The biggest pain was saved for Wall Street with shares crashing in the US’s most valuable companies — from banks to to tech. The S&P 500 fell by 4.13 per cent.
The Nasdaq slumped by 5.3 per cent — the biggest fall since the start of the .
fell almost nine per cent, wiping $250billion off its value. It relies heavily on tech imports from , , and , all subject to heavy tariffs.
, the $2.5trillion chip company, saw seven per cent erased from its value.
Elsewhere, South Korea’s main share index slumped 0.7 per cent.
Sir Keir yesterday refused to rule out tax hikes later this year if reduced growth means Labour risks breaking its fiscal rules.
Business chiefs have been asked for their views over the next four weeks. Some warned that “two wrongs don’t make a right”; and told the PM to hold off his own tariffs.
Craig Beaumont, of the Federation of Small Businesses, said: “Retaliatory tariffs would double the damage at a time of burgeoning costs and taxes in our country.
“We are calling on the UK and US Governments for small and medium enterprises to be at the centre of a prosperity deal.”;
The knock-on effect has seen digger giant JCB double the size of a factory being built in San Antonio, .
CEO Graeme Macdonald said: “In the short term the tariffs will have a significant impact on our business. However, in the medium term our San Antonio factory will help to mitigate the impact.”;
Whitehall sources expressed some relief that the UK was only hit with the ten per cent rate.
Ministers believe the actual rate should be four per cent which is the average tariff on US goods.
But the 25 per cent hit to UK car makers has put 25,000 at risk. Trump adviser Sebastian Gorka said: “After Brexit, you’ve reaffirmed your independence, and I think that is being proven today by the special rate that has been afforded to the UK.”;
Experts warned UK growth could take a 0.5 per cent hit in the coming years.
Thomas Pugh, economist at RSM UK, said the levies will be “not far off”; wiping out Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ £10billion financial cushion.
He said: “The direct impact on the UK is likely to be in the 0.2 to 0.5 per cent of GDP range over the next few years.
“The impact will be bigger once the hit to the US and European economies becomes clearer and is taken into account.”;
Two thirds of Brits think the tariffs will have a negative effect on the economy, a poll found.
A trade deal, ready to be signed by the US, could include lower digital services tax for tech firms in exchange for less severe tariffs.
Britain could review enforcement of its online harms rules as part of any agreement, it was claimed.
But The Molly Rose Foundation wrote to Mr Reynolds saying it was “dismayed and appalled”; by any willingness to bring children’s safety into tariff mitigation.
Germany’s economy minister Robert Habeck insisted that Trump will “buckle”;. He said: “This pressure now needs to be unfolded, from , from Europe in the alliance with other countries, and then we will see who is the stronger one in this arm wrestle.”;
Canada’s new PM said the tariffs were “unjustified, unwarranted, and misguided”;.
European Commission president said she was finalising counter-measures, adding: “We are in this together: if you take on one of us, you take on all of us. Our unity is our strength.”;
Trump also slapped ten per cent tariffs on some of the most remote places on including Heard Island and the McDonald Islands, an Australian territory in the Indian Ocean, which is only inhabited by penguins and seals.
- Additional reporting by and
