The News
US President Donald Trump and UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer agreed a trade deal Thursday that offers some tariff relief for key industries, including UK steel and cars, but the full details remain lacking.
The deal will also see some US goods “fast track” through UK customs processing, and US beef eligible for export to the UK for the first time.
The US president also teased a possible agreement on movie tariffs, which UK filmmakers have warned would devastate the industry.
The deal was presented as a “victory lap” for both the UK and US, The New York Times wrote, with Starmer particularly keen to portray the economic agreement as part of a broader security partnership.
SIGNALS
UK deal provides clues as to future trade negotiations
The deal holds significance as the first trade agreement since Donald Trump unveiled his “Liberation Day” tariffs on April 2, triggering global economic volatility. The deal could offer relief to investors left wary by the escalating trade war, MarketWatch wrote. It could also provide crucial clues to other countries looking to negotiate as to what Trump actually wants, The Wall Street Journal noted. Notably, the UK deal retains Trump’s baseline 10% tariff: That could indicate other nations might not be able to eliminate tariffs entirely. “The US is a high tariff country for the foreseeable future, and the trade war continues,” a University of Michigan economics professor told CNN.
UK PM Starmer’s flattery gamble appears to have ‘paid off’
UK Prime Minister Starmer’s “hold your nose” approach, as The Times put it, toward Donald Trump appears to have paid off, as the UK became the first country to achieve a trade deal with the US following April 2: Before the announcement, Starmer’s patience and flattery toward Trump had seemed to be in vain — and out of step with his European Union counterparts’ more aggressive approach, Sky News noted. Still, Trump signaled this deal may be the beginning of a slate of announcements, hinting at coming relief for China, and appearing open to further talks with the European Union, Bloomberg wrote.
Trump and Starmer present the deal as ‘economic security’ win
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer has tried to act as a “bridge” between the US, Europe, and Ukraine, The New York Times wrote: The British leader seemed keen to portray the deal as deepening security ties, which in turn could bolster UK allies, including Ukraine. Trump, too, described the UK-US pact as an “economic security alignment,” elevating the deal’s significance beyond trade: That reframing as a matter of national security could enable the US to “near-shore” supply chains for some sectors to select allies, rather than try to bring them back to America as he had previously promised, The Atlantic Council wrote.