President Trump has announced a review of all reciprocal tariffs on US imports, flagging VAT as an ‘unfair, discriminatory’ tax, which will capture UK companies in the trade war
Although the president has set a 180-day deadline to produce the tariff report, at a press conference announcing the plans, commerce secretary Howard Lutnick said the tariff review would be completed by 1 April and will be on the president’s desk soon after that, so there are likely to be announcements as early as April.
The review will affect all products imported into the US, with no exemptions unless countries negotiate on current tariffs. ‘Reciprocal makes tariffs really fair, there will be no exemptions,’ Trump stressed at the press conference.
UK sectors like pharmaceuticals and chemicals as well as professional services are likely to be hit, with VAT singled out by the president as ‘unfair’, describing it as ‘a VAT tax of 20%, which we are considering to be similar or the same as the tariff’.
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