UK exporters face higher US tariffs than EU rivals after trade deal

Scottish whisky wins zero-tariff access to US as part of separate deal

The Trump administration announced new tariffs on more than 60 trading partners late Thursday, citing forced labor concerns, a move that trade experts said has put UK businesses at a disadvantage against the European Union even though the overall tariff for British goods has not changed. The measures, announced by U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, reduce the EU’s previous near-blanket 15% tariff to 10% — the same level as the tariff deal struck by Prime Minister Keir Starmer and U.K. Ambassador Peter Mandelson last year. The EU’s new rate was secured under the Turnberry deal concluded at President Donald Trump’s Scottish golf course in 2025.

The UK government said there was “no change” to the headline 10% tariff or preferential rates in the car, pharmaceutical and aerospace sectors under the UK’s economic prosperity deal (EPD). However, the reduction to 10% for the EU effectively puts the bloc at an advantage for sectors not specified in the UK’s deal, such as bikes, clothing, chemicals, beverages and gifts, according to the Guardian.

An EU spokesperson said the Turnberry deal “establishes an all-inclusive tariff rate of 10% for the EU, and reintroduces the additional tariff exemptions for the EU, such as cork and diamonds, on top of those on aircrafts and parts, generic medicines, and active ingredients.”

William Bain, the trade policy director for the British Chambers of Commerce, said the UK had lost its comparative advantage. “Clearly there is a difference between how the UK has been treated today and how the EU has been treated today. And that is undeniable,” he said. Bain pointed to the example of a British knitted jumper, which would be imported into the US with a 12.5% base tariff plus an additional EPD tariff of 10%, bringing total levies to 22.5%. An EU jumper could now be sold into the US at an all-inclusive rate of 10%.

“Negotiations have to go on between the UK and the US over this. At the chambers network we want to see a path to lower tariffs,” Bain added.

In a separate development, the UK announced a deal cutting US tariffs on Scottish whisky to zero, giving the UK an advantage over Irish and French spirits rivals, which attract a 10% duty. The first shipment of tariff-free Scotch whisky is expected to depart the UK in the next 48 hours, the government said. Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds said: “This historic shipment demonstrates why trade deals with our largest economic partners matter.” Scotland Secretary Douglas Alexander called it “a very welcome day” for the Scottish spirits sector, “with a shipment from Aberdeenshire being among the first to enter the US without tariffs.”

The GMB trade union criticized the broader tariff regime, with national secretary Charlotte Brumpton-Childs saying the new tariffs were “ill-judged, potentially catastrophic for business and likely to utterly fail in their stated aim.” She added: “The EU now has a better trading relationship with the US than we do — which undermines the so-called ‘special relationship’.”

A government spokesperson said: “There is no negative change to the tariff rate facing UK businesses as a result of this announcement. Our agreement with the US remains in place, and today we see an improvement to our trading terms with zero tariffs on whisky and medical technology. We take forced labour very seriously to ensure that in global supply chains UK businesses are not complicit. The US has recognised the steps the UK is taking, which is why there are no additional tariffs for the UK under this announcement.”

An EU spokesperson said: “We did not agree with the premise of this investigation on forced labour. And we had communicated this, also to our US counterparts.”

Trump is expected to announce more tariffs under Section 301 of the 1974 Trade Act, with hints of retaliation over the EU’s decision to impose a €890 million fine on Google earlier this week. A threat to impose 100% tariffs on pharmaceuticals would hit Ireland, Germany and Belgium hard, the Guardian reported.