Trump Reaches a Trade Deal With the United Kingdom
U.S. President Donald Trump. X/ @getskn
May 9, 2025 Hour: 8:15 am
Britain will expand market access for U.S. products such as beef, ethanol and some industrial goods.
On Thursday, President Donald Trump announced that the United States and Britain had reached a new trade agreement, which includes partially rolling back tariffs in certain sectors and further expanding market access for each other’s products.
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“The final details are being written up in the coming weeks,” Trump said at the White House Oval Office. Meanwhile, the 10 percent reciprocal tariff previously imposed by the U.S. remains in place. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer did not attend the event in person but delivered a speech remotely via phone.
Under the deal, the first 100,000 vehicles imported into the U.S. from Britain each year are subject to the “reciprocal rate” of 10 percent and any additional vehicles each year are subject to 25 percent rates.
U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said that 100,000 vehicles only accounted 0.6 percent of U.S. auto market. But according to a statement from the British government, a quota of 100,000 cars is “almost the total” the Britain exported last year.
Britain will reduce or eliminate non-tariff barriers and expand market access for U.S. products such as beef, ethanol and some industrial goods. Lutnick also noted that Rolls-Royce engines and aircraft components from Britain will enter the U.S. tariff-free, while Britain will purchase US$10 billion worth of Boeing aircraft. The British government didn’t mention this part in its statement.
The White House also announced that this deal creates “a new trading union” for steel and aluminum. The statement from the British government said that tariffs on British steel exports to the United States will be removed.
“In a win for both nations, we have agreed new reciprocal market access on beef,” the statement read. “We will also remove the tariff on ethanol — which is widely used in our manufacturing sector — coming into the UK from the U.S., down to zero.”
teleSUR/ JF
Source: Xinhua
