BRITAIN beat the world to be the first to carve out a deal to avoid Donald Trump’s trade tariffs.
The US President hailed the agreement as “historic”, claiming it was possible only because of Brexit.
Trump said the deal was ‘great for both countries’ while holding a live televised call with Sir Keir Starmer[/caption]
There was welcome relief for carmakers who will no longer pay 25 per cent tariffs, and steelmakers who have been spared duties.
But most UK goods heading to the US will still face ten per cent tariffs — meaning we remain worse off than before the President began his onslaught.
Critics, led by Tory leader and ex-Trade Secretary Kemi Badenoch, said Brits had been “shafted”.
American beef will be cheaper to import to the UK. However, No10 insisted there would be no reduction in food standards.
Just the beginning
Speaking form the Oval Office last night, Mr Trump — flanked by British ambassador to the United States Peter Mandelson and US Vice President JD Vance — said the deal was “great for both countries” while holding a live televised call with Sir Keir Starmer.
Dozens of countries are negotiating their own pacts since the White House’s punishing “liberation day” tariffs were deployed last month, upending global trade.
But it emerged in the small print that Britain has cut tariffs for US goods heading here, while our products heading to the US will remain the same at ten per cent.
Mr Trump first alerted Sir Keir that a deal had been clinched in an out-of-the-blue phone call on Wednesday night.
But sitting in the White House, the US leader said the agreement was just the beginning.
He said: “This is a maxed-out deal that we’re going to make bigger.”
He hit out at the European Union, which is considering imposing tariffs worth £80billion if Washington DC fails to remove a series of levies.
Mr Trump said: “The European Union treated us extremely unfairly . . . and hurt themselves in doing so.
“They very much want to make a deal. We’ll be dealing with them. We are dealing with them currently. This was separate because of Brexit, in particular.”
He added that bolstering trade was “always a big part of your decision on Brexit” as he singled out the PM for praise.
Mr Trump also praised the UK as “one of the greatest” allies of the States and said the country “is right at the top — they’re the first one we’re talking about”.
It will be seen as a major boost for Sir Keir, who has been under huge pressure from his own MPs to reverse the winter fuel payment cut following his party’s Runcorn and Helsby by-election loss to Reform UK.
Tory leader and ex-Trade Secretary Kemi Badenoch said Brits had been ‘shafted’[/caption]
The agreement will slash tariffs on Britain’s car exports to America from 27.5 per cent to ten per cent for the first 100,000 vehicles sent to the US.
And steel tariffs will be reduced from 25 per cent to zero in a boost for the export market.
But the baseline ten per cent tariffs on all other goods imposed by Mr Trump at the beginning of April still remain.
And critics are already pointing to Britain appearing to have cut typical tariffs on US imports from 5.1 per cent to 1.8 per cent.
With this President and this Prime Minister, we’ve managed to achieve what many people tried to achieve for many years, and I’m really pleased.
Sir Keir Starmer
Ministers said that chlorinated chicken would remain illegal here under UK trading rules. Downing Street said work would continue on sectors such as pharmaceuticals.
US tech companies will still be subject to the same taxes despite speculation they will be reduced.
Sir Keir travelled from VE Day commemorations at Westminster Abbey with the Royal Family to the Jaguar Land Rover factory in the West Midlands, from where he spoke to Mr Trump.
He said: “With this President and this Prime Minister, we’ve managed to achieve what many people tried to achieve for many years, and I’m really pleased.
What’s in the UK-US trade deal?
HERE are the details of Donald Trump and Sir Keir Starmer’s trade deal.
CARS: Tariffs on British-made cars being sold in the United States will be slashed from 27.5% to 10%. It will apply to a quota of 100,000 vehicles and save a company like Jaguar Land Rover hundreds of millions of pounds.
STEEL: Tariffs on steel and aluminium exports into the United States will be slashed from 25 per cent down to zero.
BEEF: A “reciprocal” tariff-free deal has been made for 13,000 tonnes of beef, making it cheaper to export the meat across both countries. Britain insists it has not weakened food standards, which it has said was a red line.
ETHANOL: Tariffs on imports of American ethanol have been reduced to zero.
OTHER GOODS: Other British goods are still subject to the baseline 10% tariff announced by Mr Trump on “liberation day”. Whereas the US are claiming the UK has reduced its tariffs on America from 5.1% to 1.8%.
“This historic deal delivers for British business and British workers, protecting thousands of British jobs in key sectors including car manufacturing and steel.
“My government has put Britain at the front of the queue because we want to work constructively with allies for mutual benefit rather than turning our back on the world.”
He also spoke about the timing of the deal on the 80th anniversary of VE Day.
Sir Keir said: “Eighty years ago today, Churchill was addressing the nation at the end of the Second World War. Victory in Europe.
“And we were standing the United Kingdom with the United States on defence and security.
“For 80 years we have been the closest of partners, and today we have added to that trade and the economy in the special relationship between us.”
Lord Mandelson said the deal was “not the end, it’s the end just of the beginning”.
But Ms Badenoch said: “When Labour negotiates, Britain loses. We cut our tariffs — America tripled theirs. Keir Starmer called this ‘historic.’ It’s not historic. We’ve just been shafted.”
Reaction in the City was lukewarm, with the FTSE100 ending the day down by 0.3 per cent.
LAST-GASP WIN FOR STARMER
By Harry Cole, Political Editor
SIR Keir Starmer was having a pretty glum Wednesday evening watching his beloved Arsenal crash out of the Champions League when the White House rang.
It is fair to say Downing Street were caught off guard by Donald Trump’s last-minute personal deal-making to get the agreement over the line.
Such was the scramble to organise a press conference for the PM to hail the news that No10 accidentally sent the nation’s media to the wrong car factory.
And while the coverage risked going up in white smoke with the election of a new Pope last night, the PM will be pleased that his transatlantic kow-towing to Trump has born some fruit.
But how good is the deal really? The smaller partner has had to cut tariffs just to stand still with Trump’s blanket ten per cent import duties.
We are better off than where we were perhaps yesterday morning — but still suffering from tariff pain more than we were a month ago.
Diplomatically, a decent coup for the PM and the British negotiators but economically still some way to go.