If the president were to impose a blanket tariff on UK exports to the US it would affect around £60bn of goods sent in 2023, according to the UK's figures. Pharmaceutical products accounted for £8.8bn of the UK's goods exports to the US in that year, cars £6.4bn and power generation machinery £6.4bn.

Britain and the United States trade hundreds of billions of dollars' worth of goods and services annually, but London hopes that ambiguities in the data will help to earn it an exclusion from U.S. President Donald Trump's sweeping tariff plans.

"Whitehall is watching anxiously," said The Telegraph, even though UK ministers are hoping that "a good dose of charm and sweet talk can keep British companies out of the firing l

Donald Trump described the UK as "way out of line" but hinted that it could be spared tariffs as he warned he would impose them on the European Union “soon.” The US president has already announced he will impose 25 per cent trade taxes on goods coming from America’s nearest neighbours and largest trade partners – Canada and Mexico – as well as a 10 per cent levy on Chinese goods.