Your commercial news round-up: trade tariffs, Tesla, Chelsea FC profits, Unilever and Wild

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New trade tariffs, Tesla sales, Chelsea Football Club profits and the acquisition of Wild by Unilever are this week’s chosen stories for LawCareers.Net’s commercial news round-up. Read on to find out more about these developments and consider their impact on the world, your shortlisted law firms and their clients.

• President Donald Trump has announced a number of tariffs on imports into the US, including a base rate of 10% on all UK imports. New Zealand, Brazil and the United Arab Emirates are among several other countries facing this tariff base rate. Meanwhile, the US’ other key trading partners, which have been described by the White House as the “worst offenders”, are set to face customised tariffs – for example, the EU’s tariff rate is now at 20%, China’s is at 54% (including earlier tariffs), and South Africa’s is at 30%, reports the BBC. Following Trump’s announcement, UK Prime Minister Kier Starmer said that there “will be an economic impact from the decisions the US has taken, both here and globally”, while explaining that the decisions made following the new tariffs “will be guided only by our national interest, in the interests of our economy, in the interests of businesses around this table, in the interests of putting money in the pockets of working people”. Elsewhere, stock markets in London, Paris and Berlin fell after Trump’s statement.
   
• Electric car maker Tesla has experienced its lowest number of sales in three years and a fall of 13% in the first three months of 2025 compared to a year ago, after CEO Elon Musk faced backlash regarding his role in Trump’s administration. Wedbush analyst Dan Ives argued: "The more political [Musk] gets with DOGE [Department of Government Efficiency], the more the brand suffers, there is no debate." However, Tesla has cited the transition to a new version of its most popular car as the reason for the drop in sales, while analysts continue to suggest that the brand is “broken” and potentially “not fixable”, according to the BBC.
   
• Chelsea men’s football team revealed a net profit of £128.4 million earlier in the week, following the sale of its women’s team to the club’s parent company, Blueco 22, last year. This comes after a reported pre-tax loss of £90.1 million last year, with the club stating that it had “benefited from increased profit on disposal of player registrations and repositions of Chelsea Football Club Women Ltd”, the Guardian reports. The women’s team is on track to win a sixth consecutive Women’s Super League title this year, while the men’s team has failed to make it into the Champions League since 2022/23.
   
• Refillable deodorant brand Wild reaches an “exciting new chapter” as it’s bought by Unilever, after reaching its first year of profitable growth in 2023. The sustainable deodorant brand, which was started by Charlie Bowes-Lyon and Freddy Ward in 2019, was designed to “remove single-use plastic from the bathroom”, with Bowes-Lyon stating that this mission “will be hugely strengthened by leveraging Unilever’s expertise, scale and reach”. While the terms of the deal have not yet been announced, CITY AM reported that it’s believed Wild was valued at £230 million. The acquisition forms part of Unilever’s Growth Action Plan 2030, with Wild being described as the “perfect complement” to Unilever’s personal care portfolio.

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