Stocks turned lower in late hours after President Trump outlined tariffs that included a 20% tariff on the European Union, 24% on Japan and 34% on China. The S&P 500 fell almost 1.5% and the Nasdaq 100 slipped 2%.

Donald Trump slapped a 10 per cent tariff on US imports of UK goods as he set out sweeping trade levies hitting countries across the world.The US president said his “liberation day” announcement was a “declaration of economic independence”.

With annual UK-US trade hovering around £60billion, this isn’t inconsequential – but compared to the EU’s 20% tariff hit, it’s positively lenient. In an unexpected twist, Brexit doesn’t look quite so bad now, does it? Trump’s final message was blunt: drop your tariffs, and the US will drop theirs.