New US trade strategy – what does it mean for UK exporters?
1 August 2025
On 31 July the US president announced sweeping new tariffs affecting exporters across the globe, one day in advance of his self-imposed 1 August deadline for trade deals to be done.
For some countries this means reduced tariffs, for others it means increases - but for all, it means that the retreat from globalised trade, signalled earlier in the second Trump presidency, is here to stay for the foreseeable future.
The one consistent factor in current US trade policy seems to be an effort to rebalance individual goods trade deficits with other nations through the use of punitive tariffs; other factors – strategic alignments, trade in services, existing trade agreements, current trade negotiations – show little evidence of being an important consideration, let alone consistently.
Yesterday saw the “universal” tariff for goods remaining at 10% for countries with which the US has a trade surplus. The bigger news was that the baseline tariff for most other countries will be 15%, and tariffs on goods from 26 countries (notably including India, Switzerland, Taiwan and Vietnam) will be higher still:
Algeria: 30%
Bangladesh: 20%
Bosnia & Herzegovina: 30%
Brunei: 25%
Cambodia: 19%
India: 25%
Indonesia: 19%
Iraq: 35%
Kazakhstan: 25%
Laos: 40%
Libya: 30%
Malaysia: 19%
Moldova: 25%
Myanmar: 40%
Nicaragua: 18%
Pakistan: 19%
Philippines: 19%
Serbia: 35%
South Africa: 30%
Sri Lanka: 20%
Switzerland: 39%
Syria: 41%
Taiwan: 20%
Thailand: 19%
Tunisia: 25%
Vietnam: 20%
Tariffs on goods from the UK, China and Mexico do not change, under yesterday’s announcement. China’s framework with the US expires in less than two weeks, and it remains to be seen what will follow.
Mexico and Canada will continue to face higher tariffs for goods that are not exempt under the US-Mexico-Canada free-trade agreement. Last week, Mexico agreed to a 90-day continuation of the current 25% tariff rate the US currently places on those items.
All these changes will take effect on Thursday 7 August. As previously announced, non-exempt Canadian goods imported to the US will face a 35% from today (1 August) – up from 25%.
The EU will be hoping that its agreement announced with the US last week, which proposed tariffs of 15% for most EU goods (down from a threatened 30%), will be honoured, protecting it from higher rates, and at least giving it parity with Japan and South Korea – even though it is higher that the recent 10% rate its goods were levied at.
At the same time, the US Executive faces challenges in courts at home, where the claim is being made that the President is misusing the IEEPA (International Emergency Economic Powers Act) and thereby overreaching his legal authority.
With a baseline 10% tariff, some UK exporters – including car producers - now find themselves in a relatively good situation by contrast with those from other major economies, vis-à-vis the US market. However, as has often been the case under the present US administration, a fair degree of uncertainty remains as to whether certain tariffs replace others or are to be “stacked”, and how long they will remain in place at all.
UK exporters can seek to take advantage of the current situation with regard to the US, while at the same time using this opportunity to explore other markets.
Consultancy
We are uniquely positioned to help you with your imports and exports, and can assist in any queries you may have on US Tariffs. Enquire now.
Training
Attend our upcoming Shipping to and from the US online workshop taking place on 2 September, at 1:30pm, and find out how you can deal with US-UK shipping for imports and exports.
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