UK set to be among worst hit by Trump's 15% global tariff

The UK is set to be among the countries worst hit if US President Donald Trump's 15% global tariff goes ahead, analysis has suggested.

The UK had negotiated a 10% tariff deal with the US and would be one of the hardest hit, while countries such as China and Brazil which have higher rates would be better off, according to think tank Global Trade Alert (GTA).

The British Chamber of Commerce told the BBC the UK would "sit towards the bottom of league table" of trade partners if Trump's announcement came into effect on Tuesday.

However, US trade representative Jamieson Greer has said trade deals allies had negotiated would still stand. The BBC has asked the UK's trade department for comment.

On Friday, the US Supreme Court outlawed most of the global tariffs that Trump had announced last year, saying the president had overstepped his powers.

Trump then said a new 10% global tariff would replace the ones struck down, and then on Saturday revised the rate to 15%.

This 15% levy does not affect tariffs the UK and US had agreed on specific sectors, such as steel, aluminium, pharmaceuticals, automobiles and aerospace, which represent most of the UK's trade with the US.

The British Chamber of Commerce's president, Andy Haldane, told the BBC: "The perversity of what happened of the weekend was that those who got good deals, the allies, have been most disadvantaged."

Meanwhile, countries the Trump administration had heavily criticised, such as China and Brazil, would do best because the 15% tariff will be lower than the level they currently pay, according to GTA's analysis.

However, on Sunday, US trade representative Jamieson Greer said trade deals allies had negotiated still stood.

He told CBS that he had spoken to the EU and other countries over the weekend.

"The deals were not premised on whether or not the emergency tariff litigation would rise or fall," he said.

"These deals are going to be good deals. We expect to stand by them. We expect our partners to stand by them."

The legislation Trump has said he will use to impose his 15% tariff is different from the way in which tariffs on specific sectors are introduced.

The Supreme Court's ruling on Friday also does not affect the sector specific tariff deals.