UK shoppers took fright at Trump tariffs, British Retail Consortium says

By David Milliken

LONDON (Reuters) -British shoppers took fright at the global financial market turmoil unleashed by U.S. President Donald Trump's tariff announcements earlier this month, according to a survey published on Thursday by the British Retail Consortium.

The trade body said its balance of consumer sentiment about the state of the economy sank to its lowest in at least a year at -48 in April, down from -35 in March.

The survey was based on a poll of 2,000 consumers between April 4 and April 7, shortly after Trump announced minimum tariffs of 10% and higher tariffs for most of the United States' main trading partners, sparking fears of a global trade war.

"With fieldwork completed just days after Donald Trump's 'Liberation Day' tariffs, it is unsurprising that consumer expectations for the economy plummeted," BRC Chief Executive Helen Dickinson said.

The BRC survey is one of the first to show British consumers' reaction to the prospect of tariffs, which economists expect will lead to slower growth in Britain - but possibly cheaper goods imports too.

A previous survey of British consumers by Barclays, conducted from April 8 to April 11, had shown little change in confidence, although the questions were more backward-looking and focused more on the state of the economy in March.

Britain has not imposed retaliatory tariffs and may become a destination for surplus Asian and European exports that can no longer be sold cheaply in the United States.

Finance minister Rachel Reeves announced on Wednesday that the government would take steps to prevent the dumping of goods with unfairly low prices.

The BRC noted that shoppers' gloomier assessment of economic conditions and their own personal finances did not translate into scaled-back spending plans as Easter holidays drew nearer.

(Reporting by David Milliken; editing by William James)