Donald Trump has been unclear about whether he will impose tariffs on the UK but economists warn there are still ways Britain could be negatively affected by the president's wider trade policies even if it avoids being hit directly.

Britain and the United States trade hundreds of billions of dollars' worth of goods and services annually, but London hopes that ambiguities in the data will help to earn it an exclusion from U.S. President Donald Trump's sweeping tariff plans.

Donald Trump has said import taxes will "definitely happen" with the EU. He said the UK "is out of line" on trade with the US and told reporters "we'll see what happens".

Asked by the BBC, President Trump says the EU "don't take our cars, they don't take our farm products. They take almost nothing."

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Sunday that although Britain was "out of line" when it came to trade he thought it may be able to avoid tariffs, adding of the imbalance: "I think that one can be worked out".

"Whitehall is watching anxiously," said The Telegraph, even though UK ministers are hoping that "a good dose of charm and sweet talk can keep British companies out of the firing l