Trump hits Britain with higher tariffs

Hans van Leeuwen

Sun, 22 February 2026 at 2:41 am GMT+9 5 min read

Donald Trump had originally announced on Friday a global 10pc tariff to replace a swathe of country-specific rates - Kevin Lamarque/Reuters

Britain will be hit with higher tariffs after Donald Trump unveiled sweeping new levies on America’s global trading partners.

On Saturday, the president announced tariffs would rise from 15pc to 10pc – meaning British exports will now cost significantly more for US consumers.

Britain’s baseline tariff was already at 10pc but now exporters face a significant jump in taxes they will have to pay, or add to their prices, to send goods to the US.

It came after Mr Trump had announced a global 10pc tariff on Friday to replace a swathe of country-specific rates, ranging from 10pc to 50pc, after the US Supreme Court ruled them illegal.

Mr Trump announced the increase on his social media platform Truth Social less than 24 hours after setting the initial 10pc rate.

He wrote: “I, as President of the United States of America, will be, effective immediately, raising the 10% Worldwide Tariff on Countries, many of which have been “ripping” the U.S. off for decades, without retribution (until I came along!), to the fully allowed, and legally tested, 15% level.”

William Bain, the head of trade policy at the British Chamber of Commerce, said 40,000 UK companies exporting goods would be “dismayed”.

He said: “We had feared that the President’s Plan B response could be worse for British businesses and so it is proving.

Mr Bain added: “This will be bad for trade, bad for US consumers and businesses and weaken global economic growth. Businesses on both sides of the Atlantic need a period of clarity and certainty. Higher tariffs are not the way to achieve that.”

The new tariff uses a different legal power than the one struck out by the Supreme Court, but under this law, the president cannot levy different rates on different countries.

British exporters on the edge

This has left British exporters feeling the effects, facing a higher rate than before. And because the rate is global, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and his ministers will not be able to negotiate it down bilaterally.

Asked whether the British Government was preparing for further US pressure, a government spokesman said: “We will work with the [Trump] administration to understand how the ruling will affect tariffs for the UK and the rest of the world.

“Under any scenario, we expect our privileged trading position with the US to continue.”

Britain exported almost £62bn of goods to the US last year, including everything from cars, steel and machinery to whisky and cooking oil.

The 15pc tariff only lasts for 150 days, after which the president must get Congress to approve it.

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In his Truth Social post, Mr Trump flagged he was getting ready to trigger that process.

He wrote: “During the next short number of months, the Trump Administration will determine and issue the new and legally permissible Tariffs, which will continue our extraordinarily successful process of Making America Great Again – GREATER THAN EVER BEFORE!!!”

It comes as Britain faces a fresh trade standoff with Mr Trump after a key ally of the president warned the UK to brace for potential tariffs on sectors previously shielded from the regime.

As part of Mr Trump’s overhaul following his court loss, America’s largest trading partners potentially including the UK are now set to face a new set of wide-ranging investigations to assess whether tougher tariffs are necessary.

The move, a major escalation of Mr Trump’s tariff policy, could include fresh investigations into Britain’s pharmaceutical, technology and agriculture sectors, which are currently exempt from the levies.

Jamieson Greer, the US trade representative and a key Trump ally, is leading the new offensive. He has been a vocal critic of Britain in the past – raising fears the UK could once again become a Trump target and be forced on to the defensive.

Jamieson Greer was determined to pressure Britain into accepting chlorinated chicken imports from the US - Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images

Mr Greer said on Saturday “most major trading partners” would face “accelerated” investigations, potentially putting Sir Keir’s Government in the firing line.

The move could plunge the UK back into a new round of negotiations with the Trump administration after it struck a trade deal with the White House last year.

Mr Greer said the investigations would cover “areas of concern such as industrial excess capacity, forced labour, pharmaceutical pricing practices, discrimination against US technology companies and digital goods and services, digital services taxes, ocean pollution and practices related to the trade in seafood, rice and other products”.

“We intend to conduct these investigations on an accelerated timeframe,” he said.

Mr Greer has previously railed against British practices in some of these areas. This suggests Britain could once again become a Trump target, and be forced on to the defensive.

Rising tensions

The Telegraph learned in December that Mr Greer was determined to pressure Britain into accepting chlorinated chicken imports from the US.

That followed an earlier White House statement accusing Britain of imposing “non-science-based standards that severely restrict US exports of safe, high-quality beef and poultry products”.

Britain has stood firm, because if it watered down its standards to satisfy the US, then Brussels would impose barriers on UK exports to the EU. Sir Keir has agreed to adhere to EU food standards.

Britain could also come under fresh pressure from a White House over the regulation and taxation of US tech companies.

US officials had already been complaining about Britain’s 2pc Digital Services Tax on big tech companies. They also see the Online Safety Act 2023 as a threat to free speech.

The White House became even more concerned recently, following recent Downing Street threats to block X after its AI service Grok created naked images of women and children.

The tensions in December prompted the US to pull out of talks with the UK over a deal for closer technological cooperation.

After his Supreme Court defeat, Mr Trump has turned to another legal power, known as “section 122”, to impose a blanket 10pc tariff on all countries.

But this is a much more limited levy. He cannot target countries individually and the tariffs only last for 150 days, after which Congress needs to approve it.

The other option is the investigation under Mr Greer, which is known as “section 301”, rules these tariffs can last up to four years.

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