US President Donald Trump and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer yesterday announced a “breakthrough deal” on trade that leaves in place a 10 per cent tariff on goods imported from the UK while Britain agreed to lower its tariffs to 1.8pc from 5.1pc and provide greater access to US goods.
The agreement announced by Trump from the Oval Office marked the first since Trump triggered a global trade war with a barrage of levies on trading partners following his return to the White House in January.
“It opens up a tremendous market for us,” Trump said.
“This is a really fantastic, historic day,” Starmer said by teleconference.
The US has been under pressure from investors to strike deals to de-escalate its tariff war after Trump’s often chaotic policymaking upended global trade with friends and foe alike, threatening to stoke inflation and start a recession.
Top US officials have engaged in a flurry of meetings with trading partners since the president on April 2 imposed a 10pc tariff on most countries, along with higher rates for many trading partners that were then suspended for 90 days.
The US has also imposed 25pc tariffs on autos, steel and aluminium, 25pc tariffs on Canada and Mexico, and 145pc tariffs on China. US and Chinese officials are due to hold talks in Switzerland tomorrow.
With the British economy struggling to grow, the tariffs had added to the pressure on his government.
Jaguar Land Rover paused its shipments to the US for a month and the government was forced to seize control of British Steel to keep it operating.
While seeking a deal with the US, Britain had refused to lower its food standards, which are closely aligned with the European Union. However, Britain’s farming trade union has said that some US producers who do not use growth hormones or antimicrobial washes could be given greater market access.
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