Farmane-Ilahi

WASHINGTON (Web Desk) United States (US) President Donald Trump has announced universal tariffs on all imports into the US will take place from April 5.

A tariff is a type of tax put on imports or exports to or from a country.

Some countries like the UK, Saudi Arabia and Australia will be charged a base 10 per cent tariff on goods, BBC reported.

Other countries face much higher taxes on imports including the EU which will be charged 20 per cent and China which faces the highest tariffs of all.

President Trump said the measures were necessary because countries were taking advantage of the US by imposing high tariffs on US goods and putting in place other trade barriers, BBC reported.

World leaders have reacted strongly warning the tariffs could lead to a trade war.

A trade war is an economic conflict where countries raise taxes against each other and react to what it sees as another country's unfair trade practices.

The European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen called it a "major blow to the world economy".

The President has also announced that the United States has brought in a new 25 per cent tariff on cars not built in the US.

This will happen almost immediately, from midnight on 3 April.

The previous current rate of import tax for cars was 2.5 per cent.

UK's business secretary Jonathan Reynolds said the UK will keep pushing for a deal with the US that would strengthen their "balanced trading relationship".

Prime Minister Keir Starmer said: "Clearly, there will be an economic impact from the decisions the US has taken, both here and globally" but promised to respond with "cool and calm heads".

Ursula von der Leyen who is in charge of the European Commission which does the day-to-day work of running the EU said the new tax imports will see "uncertainty spiral", causing "dire" consequences "for millions of people around the globe".

China faces a 34 per cent tariff on top of 20 per cent tariffs which are already in place which means the country faces 54 per cent tariffs, the highest tariffs overall, BBC reported.

The country has called for the US to "immediately cancel" the taxes and has promised countermeasures saying there is no winner in a "trade war".

Some experts are warning a trade war could happen if countries react with their own tariffs.