US and UK expected to make announcements after Trump touts a 'major
trade deal'
[May 08, 2025] By
ZEKE MILLER and JILL LAWLESS
WASHINGTON (AP) — The United States and Britain are expected to announce
a trade deal on Thursday that will lower the burden of President Donald
Trump’s sweeping tariffs and potentially deliver a political victory for
Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
Trump said on Wednesday that he would announce a “major trade deal” with
a “big, highly respected country,” which he did not identify. A U.S.
official confirmed the country was Britain, speaking on condition of
anonymity to discuss talks before an announcement.
Trump later posted on Truth Social that it “should be a very big and
exciting day for the United States of America and the United Kingdom.”
Starmer’s office said the prime minister would give an “update” about
U.S. trade talks later in the day.
“As you know, talks with the U.S. have been ongoing and you’ll hear more
from me about that later today.” Starmer said at a defense conference in
London.
The president placed a 10% tax on imports from Britain, as well as 25%
tariffs on autos, steel and aluminum on the premise that doing so would
foster more factory jobs domestically.
A major goal of British negotiators has been to reduce or lift the U.S.
import tax on U.K. cars and steel. The U.S. is the largest destination
for British cars, accounting for more than a quarter of U.K. auto
exports in 2024, according to the Office for National Statistics.
Britain has also sought tariff exemptions for pharmaceuticals, while the
U.S. wants greater access to the British market for agriculture
products. Starmer’s government has said it won’t lower U.K. food
standards to allow in chlorine-rinsed American chicken or
hormone-treated beef.
If a deal is announced, the British government will see it as a
vindication of Starmer’s emollient approach to Trump, which has avoided
direct confrontation or criticism. Unlike the European Union, Britain
did not announce retaliatory tariffs on U.S. goods in response to
Trump’s import taxes.
A trade deal with the United Kingdom would be symbolically important,
and a relief for British exporters. But an agreement would do little to
address Trump’s core concern about persistent trade deficits that
prompted him to impose import taxes on countries around the world.
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Shipping containers wait to be processed at London Gateway
port, in Stanford-le-Hope, on the Thames estuary east of London,
England, Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2025. (AP Photo, File)
 The U.S. ran a $11.9 billion trade
surplus in goods with the U.K. last year, according to the Census
Bureau. The $68 billion in goods that the U.S. imported from the
U.K. last year accounted for just 2% of all goods imported into the
country.
The U.S. is much more important to the U.K. economy. It was
Britain's biggest trading partner last year, according to government
statistics, though the bulk of Britain’s exports to the U.S. are
services rather than goods.
Trump has shown a desire to strike a trade agreement with the U.K.
since it voted in 2016 to leave the European Union. Yet as recently
as Tuesday, Trump showed no awareness of the possible terms of the
deal when asked about its possibility.
“They’re offering us concessions?” Trump told reporters. “I hope
so... They do want to make a deal very badly.”
Trump has previously said that his leverage in talks would be U.S.
consumers, but he appeared to suggest that the U.K. would also start
buying more American-made goods.
“I think that the United Kingdom, like every other country, they
want to ... go shopping in the United States of America," he said.
A trade deal with the U.S. is one of several that Starmer’s
government is seeking to strike. On Tuesday, Britain and India
announced a trade after three years of negotiations. The U.K. is
also trying to lift some of the barriers to trade with the European
Union imposed when Britain left the bloc in 2020.
___
Lawless reported from London.
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