Donald Trump is due to impose sweeping tariffs on Wednesday's "Liberation Day" as the US's trading partners prepare for the worst and stocks tank. The US president said his levies will impact "all countries", but they are expected to particularly impact countries with the largest trade imbalances with the US. These include: China, the EU, Mexico, Vietnam, Taiwan, Japan, South Korea, Canada, India, Thailand, and Malaysia.

The Republican said: "This is the beginning of Liberation Day in America. We're going to charge countries for doing business in our country and taking our jobs, taking our wealth, taking a lot of things that they've been taking over the years. They've taken so much out of our country, friend and foe. And, frankly, friend has been oftentimes much worse than foe." He told reporters on Air Force One: "You'd start with all countries. Essentially all of the countries that we're talking about."

Mr Trump decalred April 2 will be known as "Liberation Day" as he seeks to make the US more economically independent and not reliant on foreign trade.

The term is often used to denote a public holiday that marks the freedom of a place, similar to an independence day.

In the president's mind, the US has long been treated unfairly by its trade partners and wants to impose reciprocal tariffs to match the duties that other countries charge on US products.

He argued that tariffs protect US industries from unfair foreign competition, raise money for the federal government and provide leverage to demand concessions from other countries.

White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett told Fox Business that the administration's tariff strategy would target 10 to 15 countries known for the worst trade imbalances, though he did not name them.

Mr Trump is set to impose taxes on imported pharmaceuticals, copper and lumber. He proposed a 25% tariff on any nation importing oil from Venezuela, despite the US also being an importer.

The automotive industry is also due to be particularly badly hit, raising fears for Europe's top car manufactures such as Germany and Spain.

An additional 20% tax is being levied on Chinese imports due to the country's alleged involvement in fentanyl production. The US president also extended his 2018 steel and aluminium tariffs to include all imports, now at a rate of 25%.

The tariff programme will see average levies of 10-20%, with most expected to be on the lower end of the scale.

Mr Trump has not revealed the full extent of the tariffs, and so the extent of the impact on the UK is not yet known.

The US president has, however, confirmed a 25% import tax on all cars imported to the US - which brought in £7.6 billion last year.

There is also the prospect of reciprocal tariffs for what the Republican has called "unfairness" in the US's international trade agreements, but this has not been confirmed.

The Government tried to negotiate a deal with the US, but Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has said this has yet to be agreed.

He told Sky News: "The likelihood is there will be tariffs. Nobody welcomes that. We are obviously working with the sectors most impacted at pace on that. Nobody wants to see a trade war but I have to act in the national interests."