PRESIDENT TRUMP ON THURSDAY announced the first trade deal since enacting his “Liberation Day” tariffs that have roiled economies at home and abroad.
The details are still being finalized, but Trump and his team unveiled the broad contours of a deal with the United Kingdom that will open up billions of dollars in market access in Britain, the sixth largest economy in the world and the U.S.’s fourth largest trading partner. The deal will also reduce non-tariff barriers and fast-track American goods through the customs process.
“There won’t be any red tape,” Trump said. “Things will move very quickly both ways.”
Trump made the announcement in the Oval Office surrounded by Vice President Vance, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and senior members of his trade and agricultural teams.
He dialed up British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and put him on the speaker phone in front of the cameras.
“This is a really fantastic, historic day,” Starmer said.
“This is going to boost trade between and across our countries,” he added. “It’s going to not only protect jobs, but create jobs, opening market access.”
The deal will increase U.S. access to the U.K. markets, primarily for beef, ethanol and other agricultural products. The U.S. will make it easier for the U.K. to import luxury vehicles. The reciprocal tariff rate of 10 percent on products coming into the U.S. from the U.K. will remain in place.
Lutnick also said a separate deal is in place for the U.K. to purchase $10 billion worth of Boeing airplanes. It’s a broad agreement with limited details at the moment, The Associated Press reports.