US and UK Expected to Announce Framework of Trade Agreement
The US and UK are on the brink of announcing the framework of a trade agreement, according to sources familiar with the matter. The announcement, expected to be made by US President Donald Trump in the Oval Office, marks the first such deal for the administration since it imposed sweeping tariffs against trade partners last month.
According to The Guardian, Trump has been teasing a major announcement with a "big and highly respected, country." In a post on Truth Social, Trump wrote: "Big news conference tomorrow morning at 10:00am, the Oval Office, concerning a MAJOR TRADE DEAL WITH REPRESENTATIVES OF A BIG, AND HIGHLY RESPECTED, COUNTRY. THE FIRST OF MANY!!!" As The Guardian previously reported, the specifics of the agreement were not immediately clear, and there was no comment from the White House or the British embassy in Washington on whether an actual deal had been reached or if the framework would need further negotiation.
The US has been in talks with the UK for weeks, discussing lowering British tariffs on US cars and farm products, as well as lowering British taxes on US technology companies, according to The Guardian. A team of senior British trade negotiators landed in Washington on Wednesday as talks over a deal between the two countries gathered pace. Officials from the UK business and trade department were attempting to get an agreement signed before a planned UK-EU summit on 19 May, as reported by The Guardian.
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer has ruled out reducing food production standards to enable more trade of US agricultural products, as officials prioritise signing a separate agreement with the EU, which is likely to align British standards with European ones, as The Guardian noted. A draft deal handed to the US a week ago would have reduced tariffs on British exports of steel, aluminium and cars, in return for a lower rate of the digital services tax, which is paid by a handful of large US technology companies, according to sources cited in The Guardian.
As The Guardian previously reported, Timothy Brightbill, an international trade attorney at Wiley Rein, told the New York Times that the announcement would probably be "just an agreement to start the negotiations, identifying a framework of issues to be discussed in the coming months." The Trump administration had imposed bruising tariffs on a number of trading partners on 2 April – on what the president dubbed "Liberation Day" – before partially reversing course after a sharp downturn in the US equity and, later, the bond markets, as reported by The Guardian.
The UK was not hit with reciprocal tariffs because the US has a trade surplus, where it sells more to the UK than it buys, according to The Guardian. However, the UK has been affected, like every other country, by the 10% global tariff and the 25% tariff on foreign steel, aluminium and automobiles. The Guardian also reported that Trump’s recent announcement that he intended to place tariffs on the film industry, a proclamation the White House later partly walked back, had proved a significant setback in trade talks.
The announcement of a trade agreement framework comes as a significant development in the ongoing trade negotiations between the US and UK. As noted by The Guardian, the US and UK have been discussing a potential trade deal for some time, with the UK seeking to establish new trade relationships following its departure from the EU. Further details of the agreement are expected to be released in the coming days, and The Guardian will continue to provide updates as more information becomes available.
The potential trade agreement between the US and UK has significant implications for both countries, and The Guardian has provided in-depth coverage of the developments. According to The Guardian, the UK’s business and trade department has been working closely with US officials to reach a deal that would benefit both countries. The announcement of a trade agreement framework is a positive step towards a more comprehensive trade deal, and The Guardian will continue to monitor the situation closely.
