What are Donald Trump’s tariffs – and how will they affect the UK?
Donald Trump’s steel and aluminium tariffs have come into effect.
But what are they and what do they mean for the UK?
What are tariffs and why does Trump want to impose them?
Tariffs are taxes on goods imported into the US.
The US president wants to impose wide-ranging tariffs on nearest neighbours Mexico and Canada, which he says will help reduce illegal migration and the smuggling of the synthetic opioid fentanyl to the US.
However, most of the 25% duties imposed on the pair to date have been suspended until 2 April.
But two rounds of tariffs on China have been enacted – reflecting trade imbalances and Mr Trump’s battle against fentanyl.
So why is he now targeting steel and aluminium?
On Wednesday, a separate 25% tariff on all steel and aluminium imports to the US came into effect, affecting UK products worth hundreds of millions of pounds.
The steel and aluminium tariffs are designed to protect US manufacturing and bolster jobs by making foreign-made products less attractive.
The world’s largest economy relies on imports of steel and aluminium and Mr Trump wants to change that.
How have countries – including the UK – reacted?
The European Union has announced it will impose retaliatory tariffs on the US.
The European Commission said it will impose “countermeasures” affecting €26bn (£21.9bn) of US goods from 1 April after US tariffs on steel and aluminium came into force today.
The bloc’s tariffs will not only impact US steel and aluminium products, but also textiles, home appliances and agricultural goods.
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Canada has announced 25% retaliatory tariffs on US goods worth C$29.8bn (£16bn) from tomorrow, its country’s finance minister has said.
The tariffs will include steel products worth C$12.6bn (£6.8bn) and aluminium products worth C$3bn (£1.6bn).
Computers, sports equipment and cast iron goods are also among the other products subject to the new retaliatory tariffs.
Announcing the tariffs, Canada’s foreign minister, Melanie Joly, added that Canada will raise the issues of tariffs with European allies to coordinate a response to put pressure on the US.
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Trump’s tariffs are ‘disappointing’
While UK industry sees it as a direct attack, the reality is that this country is not a major player any more because energy costs, in particular, mean that UK-produced steel is expensive.
Nevertheless, stainless steel and some high-end products from the UK are in high demand and account for the bulk of the £350m in annual exports to the US.
Sir Keir Starmer has said he is “disappointed” to see Mr Trump impose global tariffs on steel and aluminium, saying the UK will take a “pragmatic approach” and “all options are on the table”.
The business secretary Jonathan Reynolds said on Wednesday morning that while he was disappointed, there would be no immediate retaliation by the UK government as negotiations continue over a wider trade deal with the US.
Why will metal products become more expensive?
It stands to reason that if you slap additional costs on importers in the US, that cost will be passed on down the supply chain to the end user.
If the aluminium to make soft drinks cans costs 25% more, for example, then the hit will have to be felt somewhere.
It could mean that any US product involving steel or aluminium goes up in price, but hikes could be limited if companies decide to take some of the burden in their bottom lines.
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What are the prospects for higher prices?
It depends on the extent to which costs are passed down through the supply chain as new tariff regimes and any reciprocal tariffs are deployed.
We do know that Mr Trump plans to fully roll out duties, on all goods, against Mexico and Canada from 2 April. But the White House did row back on a threat to double Canada’s tariff on its steel and aluminium – the biggest exporter – to 50%.
But Mr Trump is also widely expected to target almost all imports from the European Union from the beginning of April.
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Is the UK facing further tariffs?
Mr Trump has not explicitly said that the UK is in his sights.
Data shows no great trade imbalances – the gap between what you import and export from a certain country – and UK figures show no trade deficit with the United States.
UK ministers have previously suggested this could be good news for avoiding new levies.
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‘The ultimate cost of tariffs will be paid in the US’
Why tariffs could cost you – even if Trump spares UK
Even if no tariffs are put on all UK exports to the US, consumers globally will still be impacted by the wider trade war, particularly in the US.
Economists believe that tariffs will raise costs in the US, sparking a wave of inflation that will keep interest rates higher for longer. The US central bank, the Federal Reserve, is mandated to act to bring inflation down.
More expensive borrowing and costlier goods and services could bring about an economic downturn in the US and have knock-on effects in the UK.
Forecasts from the National Institute of Economic and Social Research (NIESR) predict lower UK economic growth due to higher global interest rates.
It has estimated that UK GDP (a measure of everything produced in the economy) could be between 2.5% and 3% lower over five years and 0.7% lower this year.
The Centre for Inclusive Trade Policy thinktank said a 20% across-the-board tariff, impacting the UK, could lead to a £22bn reduction in the UK’s US exports, with the hardest-hit sectors including fishing and mining.
The US secretary of state has hailed a “tremendous amount of progress” on peace talks after the US and Ukraine delegations met in Geneva – but said that negotiators would “need more time”.
Marco Rubio said the meetings in Switzerland on Sunday have been “the most productive and meaningful” of the peace process so far.
He said the US was making “some changes” to the peace plan, seemingly based on Ukrainian suggestions, “in the hopes of further narrowing the differences and getting closer to something that both Ukraine and obviously the United States are very comfortable with”.
Mr Rubio struck an optimistic tone talking to the media after discussions but was light on the details, saying there was still work to be done.
US secretary of state Marco Rubio in Geneva after peace talks with Ukraine. Pic: Reuters
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Analysis: Rubio strikes an optimistic tone – but is light on detail
“I don’t want to declare victory or finality here. There’s still some work to be done, but we are much further ahead today at this time than we were when we began this morning and where we were a week ago for certain,” Mr Rubio said.
He also stressed: “We just need more time than what we have today. I honestly believe we’ll get there.”
Sky News’ defence analyst Michael Clarke said on the initial US-Russian 28-point peace plan that it was Donald Trump against the world, with maybe only Moscow on his side.
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Is Trump’s plan a ‘capitulation document’?
Mr Rubio praised the Ukrainian attitude towards the talks and said Mr Trump was “quite pleased” after he previously said in a social media post that Ukraine’s leaders had expressed “ZERO GRATITUDE” for US efforts.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in his nightly address on Sunday that there are signs that “President Trump’s team hears us”.
In a news release on Sunday evening, the White House said the day “marked a significant step forward”.
“Ukrainian representatives stated that, based on the revisions and clarifications presented today, they believe the current draft reflects their national interests and provides credible and enforceable mechanisms to safeguard Ukraine’s security in both the near and long term,” it claimed.
Despite diplomatic progress in Geneva the finish line remains a long way off
We’ve witnessed a day of determined and decidedly frantic diplomacy in this well-heeled city.
Camera crews were perched on street corners and long convoys of black vehicles swept down Geneva’s throughfares as the Ukrainians worked hard to keep the Americans on side.
Secretary of state Marco Rubio did not want to go into details at a press “gaggle” held at the US Mission this evening, but he seemed to think they had made more progress in the last 96 hours than the previous 10 months combined.
The Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy also seemed satisfied enough, posting on Telegram that there were “signals President Trump’s team is hearing us” after a day of “numerous meetings and negotiations”.
That said, we are a long way from the finish line here – something Rubio acknowledged when he said that any proposal agreed here would have to be handed over to the Russians.
At that point, negotiations to stop the war would surely get tougher.
President Putin has shown little or no inclination to stop the conflict thus far.
This, then, is the most important reason the Ukrainians seem determined to keep the Americans on side.
European leaders have presented a counter proposal to the widely criticised US-Russian peace plan, with suggestions including a cap on Ukraine’s peacetime army and readmitting Moscow into the G8.
This will only take place if the plan is agreed to by the US, Russia and Ukraine, and the G7 signs off on the move. Russia was expelled after annexing Crimea in 2014.
The counter proposal also includes US guarantees to Ukraine that mirror NATO’s Article 5 – the idea that “an armed attack against one NATO member shall be considered an attack against them all”.
Read more:
Who actually wrote US-Russian peace plan for Ukraine?
In full: Europe’s 28-point counter proposal to US-Russia plan
The initial peace plan was worked up by the White House and Kremlin without Ukraine’s involvement, and it acquiesces to many of Russia’s previous demands.
It covers a range of issues – from territorial concessions to reconstruction programmes, the future Ukrainian relationship with NATO and the EU, and educational reforms in both Ukraine and Russia.
US and Ukrainian officials are set to meet again today to continue work on the proposal.
It has also been reported that President Zelenskyy could travel to the US as early as this week to discuss the most sensitive aspects of the plan with President Trump.
Questions are being raised about the Russia-Ukraine peace plan, after US politicians suggested the proposal’s 28 points did not originate from Donald Trump’s administration but were put forward by Moscow.
Senators, critical of the US president’s approach to Ukraine, said they spoke with the US secretary of state Marco Rubio, who told them the plan is a “wish list” from the Russians and not a proposal offering Washington’s positions.
Ukraine war latest: Washington denies backing ‘Moscow wish list’
The US state department has called that account “blatantly false”, with Mr Rubio saying that the senators were mistaken and that Washington was responsible for the proposals.
The 28-point plan has surprised many for being so favourable to Moscow.
Explained: Trump’s peace plan in full
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How Ukraine peace plan came about
Republican senator Mike Rounds is among those who have claimed the plan was not drafted by Washington.
“This administration was not responsible for this release in its current form,” he said at a security conference in Canada. “They want to utilise it as a starting point.”
Mr Rounds added: “It looked more like it was written in Russian to begin with.”
Independent senator Angus King said Mr Rubio told them the plan “was not the administration’s plan” but a “essentially the wish list of the Russians”.
The senators said they spoke to Mr Rubio after he contacted them while on his way to Geneva for talks on the plan.
According to the Reuters news agency, some US officials also said the plan contains material that the US secretary of state has previously rejected and neither he, nor anyone in the state department, was aware of the plan before it was announced.
These latest claims have added to growing confusion over who was involved in drawing up the 28 points.
European leader asks: ‘Who authored the plan?’
Poland’s Prime Minister Donald Tusk has raised concerns about its origins. On Sunday, he wrote on X: “It would be good to know for sure who is the author of the plan and where was it created.”
In a post on X, Mr Rubio insisted that “the peace proposal was authored by the US… but it is also based on previous and ongoing input from Ukraine”.
A former adviser to Vladimir Putin had denied that Russia was behind the peace plan. Sergei Markov told Sky News “it is American” and the points were a “very good basis for diplomatic negotiation”.
Mr Markov insisted there were “some positive moods in Russia about it” but also accused Europe and Ukraine of wanting to continue the war, despite Russia unilaterally launching and pursuing a full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
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Former Putin advisor challenged over 28-point peace plan
Read more from Sky News:
Peace plan scrutinised at G20
Ukraine issued with ‘surrender ultimatum’
Ukraine and Europe cannot reject plan
American special envoy Steve Witkoff and Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner met Kirill Dmitriev in Miami at the end of October to work on the proposals, according to multiple sources familiar with the matter.
Mr Dmitriev, who is a close ally of the Russian president, was blacklisted by the US government in 2022 following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Kirill Dmitriev and special envoy Steve Witkoff in St Petersburg in April 2025. Pic: Kremlin Pool Photo/AP
Trump rows back on demands
The US president initially demanded that Ukraine accept the peace plan by Thursday. But he has since rowed back from that position, instead saying the proposal was not his final offer.
The plan currently on the table calls for major concessions by Kyiv, including ceding territory to Russia, pledging not to join NATO and abandoning certain weaponry.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has not rejected the proposals outright, but said he would not betray Ukraine’s interests. Meanwhile, Mr Putin has described the plan as the basis of a resolution to the conflict.
Separately, Senator Roger Wicker, the Republican chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, has been equally dismissive of the proposals.
“This so-called ‘peace plan’ has real problems, and I am highly sceptical it will achieve peace,” he said.
Morgan Geyser, who stabbed a classmate to please the internet horror character Slender Man, has been detained after cutting off her monitoring bracelet and leaving a group home.
The Madison Police Department said on Sunday night she had been taken into custody in the state of Illinois.
Now an adult, she was sentenced to 40 years in a psychiatric hospital after carrying out the nearly fatal attack in 2014.
Police in Madison, Wisconsin, had said earlier on Sunday that she was at large and her whereabouts were unknown.
“If you see Geyser, please call 911,” the force said.
She was last seen around 8pm local time on Saturday with an adult acquaintance.
Geyser had been moved to a group home this year after being granted conditional release from the Winnebago Mental Health Institute.
Her lawyer Tony Cotton said he did not know what had happened and urged Geyser to turn herself in.
“It’s in her best interest for her to turn herself in immediately and not continue with this course of action,” he said in an Instagram video post.
“We don’t know any of the facts about what happened or who might have assisted her.”
Mugshots of Morgan Geyser and Anissa Weier from the time of the attack
Geyser and her friend, Anissa Weier, were 12 years old when they lured a classmate to a suburban Milwaukee park after a sleepover, authorities said.
Geyser stabbed their victim more than a dozen times as Weier egged her on. The victim barely survived the ordeal.
The girls told investigators they had carried out the attack in order to please Slender Man, an online horror character.
They said they wanted to earn the right to be Slender Man’s servants and they feared he’d harm their families if they didn’t follow through.
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A depiction of the Slender Man fictional character
Created in 2009, Slender Man is depicted as a mysterious figure with long limbs that is photo-edited into everyday pictures.
He grew into a popular bogeyman and has appeared in games, online stories and a 2018 film.
Geyser pleaded guilty to attempted first-degree intentional homicide in a deal with prosecutors to avoid prison.
Weier pleaded guilty to attempted second-degree intentional homicide. She was also sent to the psychiatric centre and was granted release in 2021.
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