Trump abandons historic UK-US trade deal just as it's agreed
Donald Trump accidentally dropped the historic US-UK trade deal while announcing it had officially been signed after holding crunch talks with Sir Keir Starmer at the G7 summit. The US President left the Prime Minister scrambling to round-up the crucial papers as the two leaders attempted to put on a united front and show the world the transatlantic deal was 'done'.
But as Trump attempted to open a black folder with the signed agreement inside, several papers spilled out on to the floor, prompting Starmer to quickly bend down and intervene. 'Oops sorry about that,' the president said, before Starmer tried to brush off the gaffe by quipping: 'It's a very important document.' Stood alongside Starmer, the US President then said 'We signed it and it's done', before mistakenly announcing the deal was with the European Union , rather than the UK. He added: 'It's a fair deal for both. It'll produce a lot of jobs, a lot of income.'
The Prime Minister said the completed deal 'implements on car tariffs and aerospace', and described the agreement as a 'sign of strength' between Britain and America, with Trump saying it's 'fair' for both nations. He said: 'Donald, thank you very much. This now implements on car tariffs and aerospace. A really important agreement. And so this is a very good day for both of our countries, a real sign of strength.' Starmer said the proclamation would implement agreements reached on automotive tariffs and aerospace, without providing any details.
Under the terms of the deal, first announced in the White House in early May, UK carmakers will be hit by a 10 per cent rate when selling vehicles to the US rather than 25. In return, Britain is lifting tariffs on American companies' shipments of products such as beef and ethanol. The Department for Business and Trade also said the US has committed to removing tariffs on UK aerospace goods such as engines and aircraft parts. However, there was a signal from Trump that agreement about tariffs on British steel exports to the US could take longer to finalise. Asked if steel tariffs would be set to 0 per cent for the UK, the US President replied: 'We're gonna let you have that information in little while.'
In recent months, the UK has held a series of engagements aimed at securing a reduction in the tariffs Mr Trump imposed on Britain and the rest of the world on April 2. Along with 10 per cent tariffs on all British goods, the president imposed 25 per cent levies on cars and steel. He later increased the tariff on steel to 50 per cent, but gave the UK a reprieve, keeping its rate at 25 per cent until at least July 9. Under the broad terms of last month's agreement, the US will implement quotas that will effectively eliminate the tariff on British steel and reduce the tariff on UK vehicles to 10 per cent.
But it did not immediately take effect, leaving British businesses uncertain about whether the UK could be exposed to any surprise hikes from Trump. When asked, Trump did say that the UK was 'very well protected' when questioned over whether Britain would be protected from any future tariffs. Asked whether he could guarantee the country would be protected from any further levies, the US president said: 'The UK is very well protected, you know why? Because I like them.' Trump added that Starmer had done 'what other people haven't been able to do' in securing a deal with the US, saying their relationship with Britain was 'just fantastic'.
The US president told reporters: 'The Prime Minister's done a great job, I want to just tell that to the people of the United Kingdom. 'He's done what other people. They've been talking about this deal for six years. and he's done what they haven't been able to do.' Business and Trade Secretary Jonathan Reynolds said: 'We agreed this deal with the US to ensure jobs and livelihoods in some of our most vital sectors were protected, and since then we have been focused on delivering those benefits to businesses.'
'Bringing trade deals into force can take several months, yet we are delivering on the first set of agreements in a matter of weeks. And we won't stop there.' Before their one-on-one talks, Sir Keir found himself sat next to Mr Trump during a working session at his first G7 summit as Prime Minister.
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