What it means for you The fallout of 'liberation day' in Britain

Although Britain faces a lower tariff - 10% - than many other countries, for UK consumers there could still be some fallout. How it all plays out remains unclear.

- Hilary Osborne

Prices at home

As it stands, the UK has not announced any retaliatory tariffs, so no US imports will leap in price. But if the government does decide to respond in kind, the prices of goods we buy from the US could well increase. The tariffs will be paid by the importing company but could be passed on to consumers (this becomes more likely where there is not a big profit margin). Such a situation would lead to inflation.

Importers could decide to source products from countries without tariffs instead, which may hold down inflation. If there is a surplus of that stock - perhaps the country supplying the goods also attracts US tariffs and so stops selling and exporting to the US - prices could even come down.

Part of the US trade complaint concerns VAT applied in Britain to imported goods. However, VAT is not a tariff - it is charged on goods and services regardless of where they were produced - and that is unlikely to be changed by the government as a result of Trump's announcement.