<\/a>US agreement leaves the UK open to do a much more significant EU deal<\/p>\nWhat\u2019s in the deal?<\/h2>\n
The two sides said the US had agreed to reduce the import tax on cars \u2013 which Trump had raised by 25% last month \u2013 to 10% for 100,000 cars a year.<\/p>\n
That will help luxury carmakers such as Jaguar Land Rover and Rolls Royce, but could limit growth in the years ahead, as it amounts to roughly what the UK exported last year.<\/p>\n
Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds told the BBC the UK was days away from losing thousands of jobs at carmakers facing US tariffs.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis was very serious,\u201d he said. \u201cIt would have meant people would have lost their jobs without this breakthrough.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tariffs on steel and aluminium, which Trump raised earlier this year to 25%, have also been slashed, according to the Prime Minister\u2019s Office. The US said instead it would establish a quota, as had existed previously.<\/p>\n
The two countries also each agreed to allow the import of up to 13,000 metric tonnes of beef from the other country without tariffs, according to documents released by the US Trade Representative.<\/p>\n
The US said the change would significantly expand its sales of beef to the UK, which had previously faced 20% duties and were capped at 1,000 metric tonnes.<\/p>\n
Overall, the US said the deal would create a $5bn (\u00a33.8bn) \u201copportunity\u201d for exports, including $700m in ethanol and $250m in other agricultural products.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt can\u2019t be understated how important this deal is,\u201d US Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said.<\/p>\n
What\u2019s the reaction?<\/h2>\n
UK Steel director General Gareth Stace welcomed the agreement, saying it would offer \u201cmajor relief\u201d to the steel sector.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe UK government\u2019s cool-headed approach and perseverance in negotiating with the US clearly paid off,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Other business groups expressed more uncertainty.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s better\u00a0than yesterday but it\u2019s definitely not better than five weeks ago,\u201d said Duncan Edwards, chief executive of BritishAmerican Business, which represents firms in the two countries and supports free trade.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m trying to be excited but I\u2019m struggling a bit.\u201d<\/p>\n
While Labour MPs praised the deal, opposition parties asked for more detail and scrutiny in Parliament.<\/p>\n
Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch criticised the deal, saying it amounted to tariffs being lowered by the UK, while being hiked in the US.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is not a historic deal with the US,\u201d she said. \u201cWe\u2019ve been shafted.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Liberal Democrats demanded a vote on the deal in Parliament, saying it would show \u201ccomplete disrespect to the public\u201d if MPs were denied a say.<\/p>\n
Sir Ed Davey said: \u201cWhen it comes to any trade deal \u2013 and especially one with someone as unreliable as Donald Trump \u2013 the devil will be in the detail.<\/p>\n
\u201cOne thing is clear, Trump\u2019s trade tariffs are still hitting key British industries, threatening the livelihoods of people across the UK.\u201d<\/p>\n
Reform UK Leader Nigel Farage said the deal was a \u201cstep in the right direction\u201d.<\/p>\n
He told the BBC there was more detail to come but in the round it was a welcome development.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe important point is that we are doing stuff, we are making a move,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s a Brexit benefit we were able to do this.\u201d<\/p>\n
Win for US ranchers?<\/h2>\n
The US and UK have been discussing a trade deal since Trump\u2019s first term. They came close to signing a mini-agreement at that time.<\/p>\n
But the US has long pushed for changes to benefit its farmers and pharmaceutical issues, which had been non-starters politically for the UK.<\/p>\n
It was not clear how much those issues had advanced.<\/p>\n
The National Cattlemen\u2019s Beef Association said the agreement in-principle had delivered a \u201ctremendous win\u201d for American ranchers but the US Meat Export Federation, which tracks trade barriers for farmers in the US, said it was still trying to pin down information about the changes.<\/p>\n
The UK said there would be no weakening in food standards for imports.<\/p>\n
While the UK appears to have made some commitments, \u201cthe devil will be in the details,\u201d said Michael Pearce, deputy chief economist at Oxford Economics, which said it was making no change to its economic forecasts as a result of the announcement.<\/p>\n
Other issues loom.<\/p>\n
Trump has said repeatedly that he wants to tax imports of pharmaceuticals, in a bid to ensure the US has a strong manufacturing base for critical medicines.<\/p>\n
The UK said the US had agreed to give British firms \u201cpreferential treatment\u201d.<\/p>\n
But Ewan Townsend, a lawyer at Arnold & Porter, who works with health care firms, said the industry was now \u201cleft waiting to see exactly what this preferential treatment will mean\u201d.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The US has agreed to reduce import taxes on a set number of British cars and allow some steel and aluminium into the country tariff-free, as part of a new agreement between the US and UK. The announcement offers relief for key UK industries from some of the new tariffs President Donald Trump has announced […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-114831","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","entry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/114831","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=114831"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/114831\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=114831"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=114831"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=114831"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}