Trump declares ‘very large’ trade agreement with UK; final specifics to be determined
Trump has faced mounting pressure to demonstrate advancements in trade agreements following his impact on financial markets.
TroibNews 
President Donald Trump has revealed the framework for a trade agreement with the U.K., marking the first deal reached by the White House since imposing significant new global tariffs last month.
“The final details are being written in the coming weeks,” Trump stated during an event held in the Oval Office. He noted that the agreement would enhance market access in the UK for American agriculture, chemicals, machinery, and various other industrial products.
“Both countries have agreed that the economic security is national security, and we’ll be working together as allies to ensure that we have a strong industrial base, appropriate export controls and protections for key technologies and industries like steel,” Trump commented.
The deal promises billions in increased market access, “especially in agriculture, dramatically increasing access for American beef, ethanol and virtually all of the products produced by our great farmers,” Trump asserted. However, Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins admitted that many complex details regarding future agricultural access have yet to be resolved. Additionally, a spokesman for Keir Starmer, leader of the U.K. Labour Party, emphasized that U.K. leaders “are not going to lower British food standards,” which is a significant barrier to U.S. agricultural exports in the region.
As part of the terms, the Trump administration will reduce its 25 percent extra tariff on autos and auto parts to 10 percent for the first 100,000 cars imported into the U.S. Furthermore, a 25 percent tariff on steel and aluminum imports will be replaced with a new "alternative arrangement" that both nations will negotiate.
Former President Joe Biden had previously negotiated an alternative steel and aluminum arrangement with the U.K., Japan, and the European Union, which Trump decided to abandon earlier this year.
The framework announced on Thursday retains the 10 percent baseline tariff originally imposed by Trump on the U.K. and other trading partners under his so-called "Liberation Day" action on April 2. This fact did not go unnoticed by Democrats.
“When I heard the news about a quote-unquote 'deal' with the U.K., I was skeptical. After today’s press conference, I still am,” remarked Sen. Ron Wyden, the leading Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee.
“The details aren’t even finalized. There’s not much THERE, there. Howard Lutnick has said the 10 percent tariffs Trump slapped on the U.K. aren’t even going away. That means American families and businesses are going to keep getting hammered with Trump’s reckless global tariffs that are driving up prices,” Wyden added.
Among the concessions from the U.K. is the removal of its tariff on ethanol, benefiting U.S. corn farmers who supply feedstock for the fuel. The U.K. has also committed to a tariff-free quota for 13,000 metric tonnes of U.S. beef.
However, the British government’s firmness on not compromising its food standards suggests that the quota will exclude beef from cattle that have been raised with artificial growth hormones—an accepted practice in the U.S. that many countries find contentious.
Estimates from the U.S. Commerce Department indicate that the agreement could yield $5 billion in new export opportunities for U.S. farmers, ranchers, and manufacturers. This includes exports of fruits, vegetables, animal feed, tobacco, shellfish, and textiles, in addition to chemicals, ethanol, and beef.
If actualized, this agreement would represent approximately a 6 percent increase in U.S. exports to the U.K., which amounted to around $80 billion in 2024. However, it would only incrementally boost overall U.S. exports, totaling around $2 trillion last year. The White House claims that the increased export projections encompass over $700 million in ethanol exports and $250 million in beef and other agricultural products.
Other provisions aim to facilitate U.S. firms' competition in the U.K.’s procurement market, streamline customs procedures for U.S. exports, establish high standards in intellectual property, labor, and environmental areas, and create a secure supply chain for pharmaceutical products, according to the White House.
Additionally, the deal aims to enhance the competitiveness and security of the U.S. aerospace supply chain by providing "preferential access to high-quality UK aerospace components," as stated by the White House.
U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who participated in Trump’s Oval Office event via speakerphone, described the deal as “hugely important” for U.K. industries such as car manufacturing and steel, which have suffered due to some of the tariffs imposed by Trump.
"With this president and this prime minister, we’ve managed to achieve what many people have tried to achieve for years,” Starmer remarked. "It feels completely historic.”
This deal seems to fall short of the comprehensive free trade agreement that the U.K. desired to establish with the U.S. post-Brexit. Negotiations for such a pact began during Trump’s first term but were not finalized before he left office.
Still, the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders, which represents both U.K. and foreign brand manufacturers operating in Britain, hailed the agreement as "great news."
Trump's auto tariffs had posed "a severe and immediate threat to U.K. automotive exporters, so this deal will provide much-needed relief, allowing both the industry, and those that work in it, to approach the future more positively," stated SMMT Chief Executive Mike Hawes.
A prominent U.S. business organization referred to the deal as "a step in the right direction," but indicated that more details are needed before they can fully endorse the agreement.
“If this agreement leaves in place a 10 percent U.S. tariff on most imports from the U.K., that would constitute a four-fold increase from the duties that existed prior to the president’s April 2 announcement,” stated Jake Colvin, president of the National Foreign Trade Council, which represents major U.S. exporters.
"Likewise, it would be extremely disappointing if the U.K. doesn’t use this opportunity to address key trade irritants such as its digital services tax, which is a discriminatory policy that disproportionately targets U.S. companies,” he added.
This deal marks the first one the Trump administration has finalized since imposing a new 10 percent baseline tariff on all imports and additional reciprocal tariffs reaching up to 50 percent on multiple trading partners.
Shortly after, Trump announced a 90-day pause on tariffs, expiring on July 8, to allow countries time to negotiate deals to eliminate or reduce the reciprocal tariff risk. Markets have mostly rebounded since then.
Two-way trade between the U.S. and the U.K. reached about $148 billion last year, accounting for only 3 percent of total U.S. trade with the rest of the world.
This volume is dwarfed by the more significant trade relationships the U.S. has with Mexico, Canada, China, and the European Union, which the U.K. left due to Brexit during Trump's first term. Moreover, the U.S. enjoys a trade surplus with the U.K., unlike its deficits with most countries, a factor that likely facilitated London’s negotiations with Washington.
The broad framework is expected to set the stage for future agreements with other countries in the coming weeks, especially those in Asia that are economically linked to China, such as India, South Korea, and Vietnam.
“The U.S.-U.K. deal reportedly keeps in place the 10 percent universal tariff, but notably offers the U.K. some relief under the automotive, steel, and aluminum tariffs,” remarked Wendy Cutler, a former negotiator in the U.S. Trade Representative’s Office and now vice president of the Asia Society Policy Institute think tank. “If this is the case, that will embolden other partners, particularly Japan and Korea, to also insist on favorable treatment under the sectoral tariff regime,” Cutler added.
Ramin Sohrabi for TROIB News
“The final details are being written in the coming weeks,” Trump stated during an event held in the Oval Office. He noted that the agreement would enhance market access in the UK for American agriculture, chemicals, machinery, and various other industrial products.
“Both countries have agreed that the economic security is national security, and we’ll be working together as allies to ensure that we have a strong industrial base, appropriate export controls and protections for key technologies and industries like steel,” Trump commented.
The deal promises billions in increased market access, “especially in agriculture, dramatically increasing access for American beef, ethanol and virtually all of the products produced by our great farmers,” Trump asserted. However, Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins admitted that many complex details regarding future agricultural access have yet to be resolved. Additionally, a spokesman for Keir Starmer, leader of the U.K. Labour Party, emphasized that U.K. leaders “are not going to lower British food standards,” which is a significant barrier to U.S. agricultural exports in the region.
As part of the terms, the Trump administration will reduce its 25 percent extra tariff on autos and auto parts to 10 percent for the first 100,000 cars imported into the U.S. Furthermore, a 25 percent tariff on steel and aluminum imports will be replaced with a new "alternative arrangement" that both nations will negotiate.
Former President Joe Biden had previously negotiated an alternative steel and aluminum arrangement with the U.K., Japan, and the European Union, which Trump decided to abandon earlier this year.
The framework announced on Thursday retains the 10 percent baseline tariff originally imposed by Trump on the U.K. and other trading partners under his so-called "Liberation Day" action on April 2. This fact did not go unnoticed by Democrats.
“When I heard the news about a quote-unquote 'deal' with the U.K., I was skeptical. After today’s press conference, I still am,” remarked Sen. Ron Wyden, the leading Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee.
“The details aren’t even finalized. There’s not much THERE, there. Howard Lutnick has said the 10 percent tariffs Trump slapped on the U.K. aren’t even going away. That means American families and businesses are going to keep getting hammered with Trump’s reckless global tariffs that are driving up prices,” Wyden added.
Among the concessions from the U.K. is the removal of its tariff on ethanol, benefiting U.S. corn farmers who supply feedstock for the fuel. The U.K. has also committed to a tariff-free quota for 13,000 metric tonnes of U.S. beef.
However, the British government’s firmness on not compromising its food standards suggests that the quota will exclude beef from cattle that have been raised with artificial growth hormones—an accepted practice in the U.S. that many countries find contentious.
Estimates from the U.S. Commerce Department indicate that the agreement could yield $5 billion in new export opportunities for U.S. farmers, ranchers, and manufacturers. This includes exports of fruits, vegetables, animal feed, tobacco, shellfish, and textiles, in addition to chemicals, ethanol, and beef.
If actualized, this agreement would represent approximately a 6 percent increase in U.S. exports to the U.K., which amounted to around $80 billion in 2024. However, it would only incrementally boost overall U.S. exports, totaling around $2 trillion last year. The White House claims that the increased export projections encompass over $700 million in ethanol exports and $250 million in beef and other agricultural products.
Other provisions aim to facilitate U.S. firms' competition in the U.K.’s procurement market, streamline customs procedures for U.S. exports, establish high standards in intellectual property, labor, and environmental areas, and create a secure supply chain for pharmaceutical products, according to the White House.
Additionally, the deal aims to enhance the competitiveness and security of the U.S. aerospace supply chain by providing "preferential access to high-quality UK aerospace components," as stated by the White House.
U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who participated in Trump’s Oval Office event via speakerphone, described the deal as “hugely important” for U.K. industries such as car manufacturing and steel, which have suffered due to some of the tariffs imposed by Trump.
"With this president and this prime minister, we’ve managed to achieve what many people have tried to achieve for years,” Starmer remarked. "It feels completely historic.”
This deal seems to fall short of the comprehensive free trade agreement that the U.K. desired to establish with the U.S. post-Brexit. Negotiations for such a pact began during Trump’s first term but were not finalized before he left office.
Still, the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders, which represents both U.K. and foreign brand manufacturers operating in Britain, hailed the agreement as "great news."
Trump's auto tariffs had posed "a severe and immediate threat to U.K. automotive exporters, so this deal will provide much-needed relief, allowing both the industry, and those that work in it, to approach the future more positively," stated SMMT Chief Executive Mike Hawes.
A prominent U.S. business organization referred to the deal as "a step in the right direction," but indicated that more details are needed before they can fully endorse the agreement.
“If this agreement leaves in place a 10 percent U.S. tariff on most imports from the U.K., that would constitute a four-fold increase from the duties that existed prior to the president’s April 2 announcement,” stated Jake Colvin, president of the National Foreign Trade Council, which represents major U.S. exporters.
"Likewise, it would be extremely disappointing if the U.K. doesn’t use this opportunity to address key trade irritants such as its digital services tax, which is a discriminatory policy that disproportionately targets U.S. companies,” he added.
This deal marks the first one the Trump administration has finalized since imposing a new 10 percent baseline tariff on all imports and additional reciprocal tariffs reaching up to 50 percent on multiple trading partners.
Shortly after, Trump announced a 90-day pause on tariffs, expiring on July 8, to allow countries time to negotiate deals to eliminate or reduce the reciprocal tariff risk. Markets have mostly rebounded since then.
Two-way trade between the U.S. and the U.K. reached about $148 billion last year, accounting for only 3 percent of total U.S. trade with the rest of the world.
This volume is dwarfed by the more significant trade relationships the U.S. has with Mexico, Canada, China, and the European Union, which the U.K. left due to Brexit during Trump's first term. Moreover, the U.S. enjoys a trade surplus with the U.K., unlike its deficits with most countries, a factor that likely facilitated London’s negotiations with Washington.
The broad framework is expected to set the stage for future agreements with other countries in the coming weeks, especially those in Asia that are economically linked to China, such as India, South Korea, and Vietnam.
“The U.S.-U.K. deal reportedly keeps in place the 10 percent universal tariff, but notably offers the U.K. some relief under the automotive, steel, and aluminum tariffs,” remarked Wendy Cutler, a former negotiator in the U.S. Trade Representative’s Office and now vice president of the Asia Society Policy Institute think tank. “If this is the case, that will embolden other partners, particularly Japan and Korea, to also insist on favorable treatment under the sectoral tariff regime,” Cutler added.
Ramin Sohrabi for TROIB News
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