Reacting to the decision by the US President to raise his new tariffs under section 122 of the Trade Act 1974 to 15 per cent, William Bain, Head of Trade Policy at the BCC, said:
“The 40,000 UK companies exporting goods to the US will be dismayed at this latest turn of events. We had feared that the President’s Plan B response could be worse for British businesses and so it is proving.
“This means an extra 5% increase in tariffs on a wide range of UK goods exports to the US, except those covered under the Economic Prosperity Deal. This will raise the tariff cost on UK exports to the US by between £2bn and £3bn.
“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 one ray of light in this new scenario is that this 15 per cent tariff will need to be approved by Congress after 150 days. It is now vital that the government and business continue dialogue with their US counterparts to retain the UK’s competitive advantage and reduce tariffs as far as possible.”