Trump tariffs cause fastest slump in British factory export orders in five years

Britain’s car industry fears wide-scale job losses unless the UK can strike a beneficial US trade deal. Photograph: Matthew Horwood/Getty

Britain’s factories suffered a slump in export orders last month as Donald Trump’s globally unsettling tariff regime sent overseas demand for UK goods tumbling at the fastest pace in five years.

Manufacturers reported rising economic and trade uncertainties in April as some tariffs took effect and other threatened border taxes loomed, forcing them to lay off workers for a sixth consecutive month.