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UK-US pact neither a free-trade agreement nor broad trade deal of Brexiteer dreams
Sir Keir Starmer was at home in Downing Street, watching Arsenal lose in the Champions League, when he got a call from Donald Trump that he thought presented the chance to snatch victory from the jaws of trading defeat.
The president's call was a characteristic last-minute flex intended to squeeze a little more out of the prime minister. It was enough to persuade Sir Keir and his business secretary Jonathan Reynolds, dining with industry bosses across London at Mansion House, that they had to seize the opportunity.
Money blog: What interest rate cut means for your moneyKey details of 'historic' trade dealPM must show public how trade deal benefits them The result, hurriedly announced via presidential conference call, is not the broad trade deal of Brexiteer dreams, and is certainly not a free-trade agreement. It's a narrow agreement that secures immediate relief for a handful of sectors most threatened by Mr Trump's swingeing tariffs, with a promise of a broader renegotiation of "reciprocal" 10% tariffs to come.
Most pressing was the car industry, which Mr Reynolds said was facing imminent announcements of "very difficult news" at Britain's biggest brands, including Jaguar Land Rover, which sounds like code for redundancies. In place of the 25% tariffs imposed last month, a 10% tariff will apply to a quota of 100,000 vehicles a year, less than the 111,000 exported to the US in 2024, but close enough for a deal.
It still leaves the car sector far worse off than it was before "liberation day.
Amir Nisi
Creative and experienced content writer with 6+ years of experience lazy to create unique content strategy for News5 to turn website visitors into customers.
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