Trump agrees to cut tariffs on U.K. autos, steel and aluminum in planned trade deal
U.S. President Donald Trump has agreed to cut tariffs on U.K. autos, steel and aluminum in a planned trade deal with Britain, which would buy more American beef and streamline its customs process for goods from the United States.
The symbolically resonant agreement still has yet to be finalized, but it suggested that Trump was still able to negotiate with other countries after his vast set of tariffs stoked fears around the world of an economic downturn and higher inflation.
The announcement provided a political victory for U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer and offered a degree of validation for Trump's claims that his turbulent approach on trade may be able to rebalance the global economy on his preferred terms.
The U.S. president talked up the agreement to reporters from the Oval Office, even as the fine print remains in flux.
"The final details are being written up," Trump told reporters. "In the coming weeks, we'll have it all very conclusive."
The president said that the agreement would lead to more beef and ethanol exports to the U.K., which would also streamline the processing of U.S. goods through customs. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said the baseline 10 per cent tariffs would stay in place, while U.K. officials said that Trump's auto tariffs would go from 27.5 per cent to 10 per cent on a quota of 100,000 vehicles, and the import taxes on steel and aluminum would go from 25 per cent to zero.
Starmer hails deal as victoryStarmer, speaking over the phone to Trump, stressed the importance of the relationship between the two countries as the anniversary of the Second World War victory in Europe was being commemorated.
"To be able to announce this great deal ... almost at the same hour and as we were 80 years ago with the U.K. and the U.S. standing side by side, I think is incredibly important," Starmer said.
The planned deal was the first outlined since Trump began his stutter-step efforts to rewire the global economy by dramatically increasing import taxes in an attempt to increase domestic manufacturing. The Republican president quickly rolled out tariffs after returning to the White House, targeting traditional allies such as the U.K. with import taxes on steel, aluminum and autos.
Trump announced near universal tariffs on April 2, then partially retreated a week later and announced that his administration would seek individual agreements with various countries over the next few months.
The U.S. already runs a trade surplus with the U.K., making it a bit easier to find common ground as Trump has staked his tariffs on specifically eliminating the annual trade deficits with multiple nations he says have taken advantage of the U.S.
No new deals reached with Canada, Mexico and ChinaNo new deals have been reached with America's largest trading partners, including Canada, Mexico and China. Trump has left the highest tariffs in place on China, sparking a confrontation between the world's two biggest economies.
Washington and Beijing are sending officials to Switzerland this weekend for an initial round of trade talks.
Trump promised on Thursday that there are "many other deals, which are in serious stages of negotiation, to follow!"
Starmer, speaking at a defence conference in London, said "talks with the U.S. have been ongoing, and you'll hear more from me about that later today."
The U.S. and the U.K. have been aiming to strike a bilateral trade agreement since the British people voted in 2016 to leave the European Union, allowing the country to negotiate independently of the rest of the continent. Then-prime Minister Boris Johnson touted a future deal with the U.S. as an incentive for Brexit.
Negotiations started in 2020, during Trump's first term. But the talks made little progress under President Joe Biden, a Democrat and a critic of Brexit. Negotiations resumed after Trump returned to office in January and intensified in recent weeks.
Major goal to reduce, lift import tax on U.K. carsA major goal of British negotiators has been to reduce or lift the import tax on U.K. cars and steel, which Trump set at 25 per cent. The U.S. is the largest destination for British cars, accounting for more than a quarter of U.K. auto exports in 2024, according to the Office for National Statistics.
Britain has also sought tariff exemptions for pharmaceuticals, while the U.S. wants greater access to the British market for agriculture products. Starmer's government has said it won't lower U.K. food standards to allow in chlorine-rinsed American chicken or hormone-treated beef.
The British government will see a deal as a vindication of Starmer's emollient approach to Trump, which has avoided direct confrontation or criticism. Unlike the European Union, Britain did not announce retaliatory tariffs on U.S. goods in response to Trump's import taxes.
A trade deal with the United Kingdom would be symbolically important and a relief for British exporters. But an agreement would do little to address Trump's core concern about persistent trade deficits that prompted him to impose import taxes on countries around the world.
The U.S. ran a $11.9 billion trade surplus in goods with the U.K. last year, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. The $68 billion in goods that the U.S. imported from the U.K. last year accounted for just two per cent of all goods imported into the country.
The U.S. is much more important to the U.K. economy. It was Britain's biggest trading partner last year, according to government statistics, though the bulk of Britain's exports to the U.S. are services rather than goods.
Trump has previously said that his leverage in talks would be U.S. consumers, but he appeared to suggest that the U.K. would also start buying more American-made goods.
A trade deal with the U.S. is one of several that Starmer's government is seeking to strike. On Tuesday, Britain and India announced a trade agreement after three years of negotiations. The U.K. is also trying to lift some of the barriers to trade with the EU imposed when Britain left the bloc in 2020.
cbc.ca
