Trump administration to announce trade deal with Britain: Sources

WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump is expected to announce on May 8 that the United States will strike a trade agreement with Britain, according to three people familiar with the plans.

Mr Trump teased a new trade agreement in a social media post on the night of May 7, though he did not specify which nation was part of the deal.

“Big News Conference tomorrow morning at 10AM, The Oval Office, concerning a MAJOR TRADE DEAL WITH REPRESENTATIVES OF A BIG, AND HIGHLY RESPECTED, COUNTRY. THE FIRST OF MANY!!!” he wrote.

A spokesperson for the White House declined to comment beyond Mr Trump’s post. A spokesperson for the British Embassy in Washington did not respond to a request for comment.

The agreement would be the first deal announced since Mr Trump imposed stiff tariffs on dozens of US trading partners.

He later paused those temporarily in order to allow other nations to reach agreements with the US.

A deal between the US and Britain could be a significant win for both countries, which have long sought closer economic cooperation.

Details of the agreement were not immediately clear.

Both nations have discussed lowering British tariffs on American cars and farm goods, as well as removing British taxes on US technology companies.

It also was not clear whether the agreement had actually been finalised.

Mr Timothy Brightbill, an international trade attorney at Wiley Rein, said the announcement would probably be “just an agreement to start the negotiations, identifying a framework of issues to be discussed in the coming months”.

He added: “We suspect that tariff rates, non-tariff barriers and digital trade are all on the list – and there are difficult issues to address on all of these.”

The Trump administration has been trying to cajole other countries into reaching quick trade deals with the US.

The President imposed punishing tariffs on dozens of its trading partners on April 2, but quickly backtracked after panic ensued in the bond market.

Mr Trump paused most of those tariffs for 90 days so that the US could negotiate trade deals with other nations.

But he has left a 10 per cent global tariff in place, including on Britain.

Unlike other countries, Britain was not subjected to higher “reciprocal” tariffs, because it buys more from the US than it sells to it.

Administration officials have said they are not considering removing the 10 per cent tariff as part of a trade deal.

Britain is also subject to a 25 per cent tariff that Mr Trump has placed on foreign steel, aluminium and automobiles, levies that British officials have been pushing their US counterparts to lift.

Mr Trump’s interest in striking a trade deal with Britain dates back to his first term, when his advisers negotiated with the country but did not finalise an agreement.

British officials have also been eyeing a trade agreement with the US since Brexit, as a way to offset weaker relations with Europe.

In the Biden administration, British officials continued to push for a deal with the US but made little progress.

For British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, the trade deal would offer vindication for his assiduous cultivation of Mr Trump.

During his visit to the Oval Office in February, Mr Starmer turned up with an invitation from King Charles III for the President to make a rare second state visit to Britain.

The Trump administration appears to be nearing deals with India and Israel, and is continuing to negotiate with South Korea, Japan, Vietnam and other nations.

Still, Mr Trump once again displayed his unpredictable approach to economic policy on May 7 when he downplayed the prospect of trade deals, saying other countries needed such agreements more than the US.

“Everyone says ‘When, when, when are you going to sign deals?’” Mr Trump said, at one point motioning toward Mr Howard Lutnick, his commerce secretary.

“We don’t have to sign deals. We could sign 25 deals right now, Howard, if we wanted to. We don’t have to sign deals. They have to sign deals with us.” NYTIMES