Trade deal between US and UK unveiled
The United States and the United Kingdom unveiled a bilateral trade deal on Thursday that they say will make recent US tariffs less impactful and that experts think will usher in a flurry of similar agreements between Washington and other nations.
On the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II in Europe, the two former wartime allies and longtime friends claimed the deal will also "cement" their future relationship.
President Donald Trump said from the Oval Office that the UK is one of the US' "most cherished allies" and that the deal between the nations is about "reciprocity and fairness" and relates to billions of dollars of US exports, including beef, ethanol, and other agricultural products.
"They'll also be fast-tracking American goods through their customs process, so our exports go to a very, very quick form of approval, and there won't be any red tape," he added, saying the deal, which he admitted was still being worked on and is to be finalized in the coming weeks, will include mention of trade in chemicals and machinery.
The agreement will ensure the UK can export 100,000 cars to the US on the original 10 percent baseline tariff rate, instead of the higher automobile rate. And it calls for Rolls Royce engines and parts for planes to be exported from the UK to the US tariff-free.
Additionally, the tariffs on UK steel and aluminium exports will be reduced to zero.
"It's a very big deal right now, but I think it's going to grow just of its own volition," Trump added.
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer also heralded the deal by phone from the UK, describing it as "fantastic" and "historic".
But experts said the deal clearly was not yet finished and fell short of the "full and comprehensive" trade deal Trump had touted on social media the night before its unveiling.
Tom Bateman, the BBC's State Department correspondent, said the agreement was "much more akin to a statement of intent to negotiate further" and that, following Trump's wave of global tariffs and the resulting stock market turmoil, and after a financial quarter of negative economic growth in the US, Trump was eager to sell it as a major breakthrough and evidence nations are "lining up to the do deals".
However, the UK's finance minister, Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves, described it as evidence of "an incredibly strong trade and investment link between the UK and the US".
"A million Brits work for US firms, a million Americans work for British firms," she said while insisting the deal with Washington, and one the UK unveiled on Wednesday with India, will not derail a planned trade deal London is negotiating with the European Union, which is thought to be close to completion.
"We shouldn't choose between countries," the BBC quoted her as saying. "The UK is an open trading economy. Open for trade, open for business, open for investment."
While details about the deal are relatively scarce, US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick said it will open up new market access "that will add $5 billion of opportunity to American exporters".
