The usually benign ambience of the White House Rose Garden tonight became the focus of Donald Trump’s misguided economic violence as the USA – for so long the self-styled exceptionalist liberal beacon of world democracy – threatened the rest of the entire planet.
No one escaped. Not even friends with a “special relationship” like, say, Great Britain.
In fact pro-rata we were hit harder than the “usual suspect” American enemies like China, Russia and Mexico by Trump’s new swathe of super-tariffs.
The worst-offending countries were ordered to pay 50% of the tariffs they impose on America – Great Britain, however, will be paying 100%.
So China which slaps 67% tariffs on US imports will pay 34% in new tariffs, the EU which slaps 39% tariffs on US imports will pay 20% in new tariffs, Vietnam which slaps 90% tariffs on US imports will pay 46% in new tariffs.
Britain, which charges a measly (and friendly) 10% in tariffs on US imports has been hit with an identical 10%. No 50% discount for us. No10 was embarrassingly quick to claim this was vindication of Keir Starmer’s “pragmatic and calm” approach to any potential trade war.
His approach actually is the correct one but in truth Starner was never, ever part of Trump’s thought process, and we flatter ourselves to think otherwise. So what does all this mean?
The absolute truth is no one really has a clue. It is economic ground zero – a Hiroshima-scale attack on global trade and stability.
But you know that uber-cheap pair of de trop cowboy boots you were eying-up on Shein this afternoon… I reckon you have a handful of hours to grab them before there is a decidedly high risk they will be a quarter more expensive.
There’s no way of knowing precisely how the top brass at the budget clothing giant Shien will actually act in the face of Donald Trump’s swingeing tariff hikes of course, ditto Honda, ditto Toyota, ditto VW, ditto BAe, ditto Nvidia, any other business etc etc, but the only one thing we can say with any amount of certainty is everything is about to go up in price.
Everything. All over the world, including the USA. The global economic order we woke up to today has gone. Perhaps forever. Or perhaps ‘till next Tuesday, you just never know with Donald Trump. Narcissists are very hard to predict. What was grimly evident though was the glacial hardening of America’s heart.
“I have very good news today, a lot of good things are happening for our country,” he said.
“April 3, 2025, will forever be remembered as Liberation Day, the day American industry was reborn, the day America’s destiny was re-claimed, the day we made America wealthy again.
“For decades our country has been looted, pillaged, raped and plundered by nations near and far, both friend and foe alike.”
It’s usually considered beyond the pale for comment writers to reach for a Hitler analogy, so I will leave any conclusions to your own good auspices. But he described trade deficits as a “national emergency” and claimed his actions would usher in what he called “the golden age of America.”
He added: “In short, chronic trade deficits are no longer merely an economic problem. They’re a national emergency that threatens our security and our very way of life. It’s a very great threat to our country.”
Essentially the United States of America is now at war with the world. And remember the UK car industry now faces an industry-specific 25% tariff on all vehicles sent to the US. Selling high-end cars like Aston Martins and Land Rovers to Americans accounts for almost 20% of our entire car export market, bringing in £6.4bn in revenue.
Some experts now fear the 25% tariff could price UK vehicles out of US markets at a cost of 25,000 jobs.