Donald Trump has defended the United States' latest round of import taxes on Britain and 59 other countries, insisting the levies are “very standard tariffs” as a legal challenge was filed to overturn them.
Speaking in the Oval Office, the US president said the new duties “follow the line” and replace a previous set of tariffs that expired on Friday after being ruled illegal by the Supreme Court. The White House justified the charges by claiming the targeted economies had failed to enforce bans on goods produced by slave labour. The imposition coincided with the expiry of a temporary 10% import levy already faced by Britain.
“Donald Trump defends new US tariffs on UK imports as a legal challenge seeks to overturn them, claiming they target slave labour.”
“We put the tariffs on,” Trump said. “They're very standard tariffs. The other way was easier. I thought the decision by the Supreme Court was not a good one. But we have many forms of tariffs.”
His remarks came as the Liberty Justice Centre, a legal campaign group that has successfully challenged Trump’s previous tariffs, brought a case on behalf of two small businesses in the US Court of International Trade in New York. Sara Albrecht, the group’s chairman, argued: “The administration allowed one global tariff to expire and immediately replaced it with another under a different statute. Changing the statute doesn't change the law. Every tariff authority has limits, and every administration must respect them.”
Jeffrey Schwab, the centre’s senior lawyer, said the legislative provision relied on by the White House was “a targeted, country-specific and practice-specific remedial authority”. He added: “It is not a freestanding authorisation to tax substantially all imports from substantially all countries at pre-established rates.”
The UK Government has pointed out there is no change to the tariff rate facing British businesses as a result of the announcement, which remains at 10%. In 2024, UK exports to the US were worth £66 billion, accounting for 17% of all UK goods exports. An Economic Prosperity Deal agreed between the two countries last year aimed to mitigate the impact of US tariffs on UK industries and deepen commercial ties.
Meanwhile, US import duties on Scotch whisky have now been lifted. Trump announced in April he would remove the whisky tariff following the state visit by the King and Queen. The outcome of the legal challenge now hangs over the broader trade relationship.