US tariffs on UK goods
- The United States imposed tariffs on most UK goods entering America this week. - A subsequent UK–US deal mitigated only part of the damage, rather than restoring normal trade flows. - That makes tariff relief conditional and forces firms to reassess production, sourcing and market exposure. (commonslibrary.parliament.uk)
Most UK goods entering the United States now face a 10% tariff, and the UK’s follow-up deal with Washington left that baseline in place. (commonslibrary.parliament.uk) President Donald Trump announced the new tariff package on April 2, 2025, and the 10% duty on UK imports took effect on April 5. The UK was not hit with the steeper country-specific rates applied to some other trading partners, but it was still pulled into the new baseline system. (commonslibrary.parliament.uk) The May 8, 2025 UK-US Economic Prosperity Deal carved out relief for a few sectors instead of removing the broad tariff. The White House said the 10% reciprocal tariff “is in effect” even after the agreement. (whitehouse.gov) Cars got the clearest concession: the first 100,000 UK-made vehicles shipped to the US each year would face a 10% rate, while additional vehicles would be charged 25%. The UK government said US tariffs on British autos had been cut from 27.5% to 10% under that quota. (whitehouse.gov) (gov.uk) Steel and aluminium were also singled out for relief, with the UK government saying the US rate would fall to zero. But the Commons Library said the legal basis for several US tariffs changed after a US Supreme Court decision on February 20, 2026, leaving uncertainty over how some measures will be maintained or altered. (gov.uk) (commonslibrary.parliament.uk) That left UK exporters with a split system. Aerospace parts, autos, steel and aluminium got bespoke treatment, while most other goods still entered the US under the new 10% surcharge. (whitehouse.gov) (business.gov.uk) Parliament’s Business and Trade Committee said in a January 2026 report that the deal reduced, but did not eliminate, a range of tariffs and set only a framework for future cooperation. The committee traced the shift to the US “America First” trade policy rolled out in early 2025. (publications.parliament.uk) The UK government presented the agreement as job protection for car plants and steelworks. Critics and trade lawyers described it as limited, because normal tariff-free access was not restored across the wider trading relationship. (gov.uk) (cnbc.com) For British firms selling into the US, the practical question is no longer whether tariffs exist but which products still qualify for relief, at what volume, and under which legal authority. More negotiations were built into the deal, but the baseline 10% tariff is still the starting point for most UK goods. (gov.uk) (commonslibrary.parliament.uk)
