A businessman has revealed how a US customer pulled out of a £350,000 export deal at the last moment over Donald Trump’s swingeing tariffs.

Richard Finch, whose firm provides specialist gearbox parts and construction equipment spares, had 25 tonnes of goods packed in a container and ready to leave.

But when the US president imposed a 25 per cent levy on steel, aluminium and cars, the purchaser backed out of the deal.

The collapsed arrangement will be repeated at businesses across the country, particularly now Mr Trump has also imposed an across-the-board ten per cent tariff on UK exports to the US. 

Mr Finch, who co-owns Plant Parts Ltd in Hadleigh, Suffolk, said his customer would have had an extra £75-80,000 to pay in duties.

‘All the goods are here in my yard and literally at the last minute the container was cancelled because my customers in the States can’t afford or don’t want to pay the tariffs. It’s quite a lot of money,’ he said.

‘It takes four weeks for the container to arrive [in the US]. Obviously, anything that left here in the last month or so, they are going to have to pay tariffs on.’

The items – most of which originate from Japan, Italy and Germany – are now languishing in a warehouse.

Businessman Richard Finch's firm has lost a £350,000 export to the UK following President Trump's swingeing tariffs that have sparked a global trade war

Businessman Richard Finch’s firm has lost a £350,000 export to the UK following President Trump’s swingeing tariffs that have sparked a global trade war

President Trump sparked a global trade war on Wednesday when he announced huge tariffs on countries around the world

President Trump sparked a global trade war on Wednesday when he announced huge tariffs on countries around the world

‘We have to try and find new homes for some of it,’ added Mr Finch, who hopes the purchaser will continue to buy goods from him but suspects it won’t be at the same scale.

Mr Trump hit countries around the world with stringent tariffs on Wednesday that are expected to wipe billions from global economic growth.

He accused other nations, including allies, of ‘looting, pillaging, raping and plundering’ the US. The EU has been hit with a 20 per cent tariff, while China is facing 34 per cent.

The Office for Budget Responsibility last week slashed its outlook for the UK’s already anaemic economic growth since Labour took power, from two per cent to one per cent – but without taking account of the trade war, which will further dent the economy.

Economists have warned it will wipe out the fiscal headroom Chancellor Racher Reeves engineered for herself last week in her Spring Statement.

The crisis comes at a time when Mr Finch’s firm – in common with others – has been buffeted by a raft of cost increases.

Transport costs have risen ‘enormously’ over the last year. New minimum wages brought in by Labour that take effect this month will not directly affect employees at Plant Parts but it will have to increase salaries in response and shoulder extra National Insurance costs.

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Tariffs unveiled by President Trump on Tuesday at the White House include 20 per cent on the EU, 34 per cent on the EU and 24 per cent on Japan

Tariffs unveiled by President Trump on Tuesday at the White House include 20 per cent on the EU, 34 per cent on the EU and 24 per cent on Japan

‘We do our pay rises in April anyway. I think our basic payroll will have gone up by £60,000 but there’s an additional £20,000 extra in National Insurance costs on top of that,’ Mr Finch said.

‘You try and succeed despite government, not because of it, don’t you? It seems to be there are continuous obstacles put in your path.’

The firm’s £8.5 million turnover is now expected to fall this year. Around a quarter of sales are domestic and about 75 per cent of construction equipment deals are exports, with 50 per cent going to Europe before Brexit – although that has now dropped to 28 per cent.

It has opened two HMRC customs warehouses to try to overcome some of the difficulties but they are expensive to run and require two more staff. 

‘Most of that slice has been taken up by North America – that’s about 38 per cent – about 50/50 between Canada and the US,’ Mr Finch added.

The entrepreneur founded his company from home in 1991. In addition to warehousing, he has a million-pound workshop for hydrostatic gearboxes, which use hydraulic fluid to transfer power.

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