UPDATE: |Greater Manchester businesses quizzed as Donald Trump tariffs ‘reshape national trade’ News

“The United States is Greater Manchester’s largest trading partner, and the tariffs present significant hurdles for businesses”

Businesses across Greater Manchester are being surveyed on how US President Donald Trump’s controversial tariffs could impact them. Greater Manchester Chamber of Commerce, which has launched the survey, said the move had created ‘a wave of uncertainty and concern among UK businesses’.

The Deansgate-based chamber, the UK’s largest, now wants to hear from its members on how they could be affected. They’re being asked a host of questions, including what proportion of sales are directly, or indirectly, exported to the US, and how they plan to respond to the tariffs if at all.

As reported, business leaders in Greater Manchester have predicted ‘one of the most challenging periods in trade history’ after Mr Trump slapped import tariffs on all UK exports to the US. The chamber said the US was Greater Manchester’s largest trading partner – and said businesses across the city region would ‘face significant challenges’.

Make UK, the Manufacturers’ Organisation, meanwhile, has called for the creation of a ‘Tariffs Taskforce’ by the Government to help companies navigate the uncertainty.

It is thought that only the biggest companies in the main sectors of automotives, mechanical equipment and pharmaceuticals will be significantly impacted.

Launching the survey, which ends next week, Greater Manchester Chamber of Commerce said: “President Trump recently announced additional international trade tariffs, introducing a wave of uncertainty and concern among UK businesses.

“These tariffs have begun to reshape the landscape of international trade, creating both immediate challenges and the need for strategic long-term responses. The United States is Greater Manchester’s largest trading partner, and the tariffs present significant hurdles for businesses. At Greater Manchester Chamber, we are keen to understand how the tariffs impact your business.”

The chamber said the results would be used to ‘inform our discussions with local and central government about what we can do to help’.

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The Government still hopes an economic deal with America can be reached to soften the blow of tariffs. Most countries now face the same 10 per cent rate as the UK on importing goods to the US after President Trump temporarily halted the sweeping ‘retaliatory’ tariffs which had sent global markets into turmoil.

The president’s surprise announcement of the 90-day pause to hefty tariffs brought respite to battered stock markets across the globe, including London’s FTSE 100. The Government is also seeking to strengthen trade relations with other countries to protect the economy from further potential shocks.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves has said she will seek to negotiate with the US when she visits Washington at the end of April for the IMF spring meeting of global finance ministers, and that a UK-EU summit on May 19 would be a chance to refresh the UK’s relationship with the bloc.

Mr Trump said on Wednesday that he would pause higher tariffs on trading partners such as Japan and the EU, telling reporters that ‘people were getting yippy’ in an apparent acknowledgement of the market turmoil in recent days. However, he said he would be raising his tax rate on Chinese imports to 125 per cent amid an escalating trade war with Beijing, which has promised to ‘fight to the end’ over the levies imposed by the White House.

Imports of cars, steel and aluminium to America are all still subject to a 25 per cent tariff. Stephen Phipson, CEO of Make UK said the 25 per cent tariffs on British made autos, steel and aluminium was ‘devastating for UK manufacturing’.

“Not only will volumes of direct exports to the US decline but it will destroy decades of integrated supply chains connecting the UK with US through other trading partners such as the EU, Canada and Mexico who are also impacted by US tariffs,” he said.

“Despite their significant efforts over recent weeks and the calm way they have avoided escalating tension, the UK Government must double their efforts and work urgently to negotiate a new mutually beneficial economic agreement with the US to reverse this highly damaging development. This isn’t the time for a trade war, we need to find a way to mitigate against these crippling tariffs at speed.

“Government urgently needs to convene a Tariffs Taskforce bringing together a full spectrum of British industry along with all the relevant government departments to help companies navigate their way through the tariff complexities and uncertainty. This approach proved its value during the Brexit negotiations and would add value and increase business confidence if implemented now.”

A Manchester-based law firm, meanwhile, Clarke Willmott LLP, said business across Greater Manchester and the region ‘can’t afford to sit back and wait to see what happens next’. “There are legal avenues available for firms to push back – both through contract law and commercial supply agreements – and now is the time to act,” said Stephen Green, a commercial partner at Clarke Willmott in Manchester.

“Some businesses can challenge US trading partners who pass on tariff and other costs, especially if pricing terms didn’t foresee such disruption or tariffs. Others may have grounds to terminate or renegotiate contracts based on the tariffs’ impact on fulfilment, deliverability or profitability.”