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Why is the government holding a consultation?

On 2 April President Trump announced a 10% tariff on top of existing US duties on imports from the UK starting from 5 April.

What does the UK currently import?

The US is a key source of agricultural inputs used by the farming industry.

The table below shows the total volume (kg) of UK imports of key agricultural inputs (listed with their commodity codes) from around the world and from the US in 2024. The right-hand column details the share of US imports as a percentage of total UK imports.

UK imports (kg) in 2024	Total imports	Imports from the US	US%
10 Cereals	2,824,569,943	196,316,735	7.0
1005 maize or corn	2,824,569,943	196,316,735	7.0
12 oilseeds and oleaginous fruits; miscellaneous grains, seeds and fruit; industrial or medical plants; straw and fodder	1,073,785,444	169,495,382	15.8
1201 soya beans, whether or not broken	1,073,785,444	169,495,382	15.8
23 residues and waste from the food industries; prepared animal fodder	2,731,571,381	478,013,972	17.5
2303 Residues of starch manufacture and similar residues, beet-pulp, bagasse and other waste of sugar manufacture, brewing or distilling dregs and waste, whether or not in the form of pellets	624,568,269	338,510,475	54.2
2304 Oilcake and other solid residues, whether or not ground or in the form of pellets, resulting from the extraction of soya-bean oil	2,107,003,112	139,503,497	6.6
2309 Preparations of a kind used in animal feeding	103,567,534	3,529,069	3.4
28 Inorganic chemicals: organic or inorganic compounds of precious metals, of rare-earth metals, of radioactive elements or of isotopes	276,566,489	51,695,817	18.7
2814 Ammonia, anhydrous or in aqueous solution	276,566,489	51,695,817	18.7
31 Fertilisers	3,438,935,341	224,576,735	6.5
3101 Animal or vegetable fertilisers, whether or not mixed together or chemically treated; fertilisers produced by the mixing or chemical treatment of animal or vegetable products (excl. those in tablets or similar forms, or in packages with a gross weight	63,398,301	570,429	0.9
3102 Mineral or chemical nitrogenous fertilisers (excl. those in tablets or similar forms, or in packages with a gross weight of <= 10 kg)	2,491,108,739	222,946,544	8.9
3103 Mineral or chemical phosphatic fertilisers (excl. those in tablets or similar forms, or in packages with a gross weight of <= 10 kg)	73,446,156	5,383	0.0
3104 Mineral or chemical potassic fertilisers (excl. those in tablets or similar forms, or in packages with a gross weight of <= 10 kg)	348,097,432	21,392	0.0
3105 Mineral or chemical fertilisers containing two or three of the fertilising elements nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium; other fertilisers (excl. pure animal or vegetable fertilisers or mineral or chemical nitrogenous, phosphatic or potassic fertilise	455,024,184	1,032,987	0.2
84 Nuclear reactors, boilers, machinery and mechanical appliances; parts thereof	134,682,899	4,452,683	3.3
8432 Agricultural, horticultural or forestry machinery for soil preparation or cultivation (excl. sprayers and dusters); lawn or sports-ground rollers; parts thereof	31,488,193	770,679	2.4
8433 Harvesting or threshing machinery, incl. straw or fodder balers; grass or hay mowers; machines for cleaning, sorting or grading eggs, fruit or other agricultural produce; parts thereof (other than machines for cleaning, sorting or grading seed, grain	73,886,547	3,192,606	4.3
8434 Milking machines and dairy machinery (excl. refrigerating or heat treatment equipment, cream separators, clarifying centrifuges, filter presses and other filtering equipment); parts thereof	2,443,965	16,327	0.7
8435 Presses, crushers and similar machinery used in the manufacture of wine, cider, fruit juices or similar beverages (excl. machinery for the treatment of these beverages, incl. centrifuges, filter presses, other filtering equipment and domestic applian	399,525	761	0.2
8436 Agricultural, horticultural, forestry, poultry-keeping or bee-keeping machinery, incl. germination plant fitted with mechanical or thermal equipment; poultry incubators and brooders; parts thereof	22,105,428	406,226	1.8
8437 Machines for cleaning, sorting or grading seed, grain or dried leguminous vegetables; machinery used in the milling industry or for the working of cereals or dried leguminous vegetables (excl. farm-type machinery, heat treatment equipment, centrifuga	4,359,241	66,084	1.5
87 Vehicles other than railway or tramway rolling-stock, and parts and accessories thereof	183,404,002	4,063,508	2.2
8701 Tractors (other than tractors of heading 8709)	183,404,002	4,063,508	2.2

Source: HMRC

Looking at the UK’s import profile, there are certain products which we are more heavily reliant upon from the US market. This is due to the price competitiveness and quality of American products when compared to alternative sources.

Animal feed is the most relevant imported commodity from the US.

Let’s look at it in detail:

US molasses represent 54% of our total imports, making the UK extremely reliant on the US supply. Molasses is an important component of livestock feed ration. Historically, India has been a key source of molasses but it currently imposes an export ban due to its increased domestic demand.

On maize, the US is the largest producer globally and, for this marketing year, the global maize balance is tight. Currently, US maize appears to be the best option for UK importers until Brazil’s second harvest becomes available due to ongoing issues in other exporting countries (eg, mycotoxins in Eastern Europe, low harvest in Ukraine, pesticides used in Argentina).

US soy is preferred to Brazilian soy due to the requirements coming into force as part of the EUDR (EU Deforestation Regulation) and the UKFRC (UK Forest Risk Commodity Regulation). Many UK dairy farmers are contractually obliged to source North American soya because it is deforestation free. Moreover, there are expectations of lower US prices in the short term on the back of the tariff escalation with China and US increasing crush capacity.