{"id":95299,"date":"2025-05-12T12:21:09","date_gmt":"2025-05-12T12:21:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/95299\/"},"modified":"2025-05-12T12:21:09","modified_gmt":"2025-05-12T12:21:09","slug":"uk-us-trade-deal-only-first-step-to-full-free-trade-agreement-uk-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/95299\/","title":{"rendered":"UK-US Trade deal ‘only first step’ to full Free Trade Agreement | UK | News"},"content":{"rendered":"

Last week\u2019s historic trade deal between the US and Britain is \u201conly the first step\u201d towards a more comprehensive Free Trade Agreement, Republican insiders said last night. Despite Donald Trump<\/a>\u2019s genuine admiration for Britain and its institutions, it was his economic war with China that drove the timing. And it is China – along with Trump\u2019s prospects in the midterm elections – that will determine whether a fuller deal can be secured before his term as 45th President of the United States ends.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are many Republicans – and not just those who are avid supporters of President Trump – for whom the strength of the Special Relationship has been somewhat diluted by Sir Keir Starmer<\/a>\u2019s overtures to China,\u201d said one seasoned Republican. The announcement coincided with the 80th anniversary of VE Day, underlining the shared histories of the two nations. But for many in Washington, another event carries more strategic weight: last weekend\u2019s high-level US-China talks in Geneva.<\/p>\n

The meeting between Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Trade Representative Jamieson Greer and China\u2019s Vice Premier He Lifeng was the first formal engagement between the two powers since Trump\u2019s return to office in January.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Wednesday announcement was certainly serendipitous – the US and UK fought shoulder to shoulder during World War Two. But let\u2019s be clear: it is the China meeting that determined the timing.<\/p>\n

\u201cTrump wants the UK to stand shoulder to shoulder with him against Chinese economic dominance. Going to Geneva with that deal in his pocket showed Xi Jinping<\/a> that China cannot divide allies.\u201d<\/p>\n

In Trump\u2019s first term, China sought out dialogue during the trade war.<\/p>\n

This time, it has taken a firmer stance, vowing to \u201cfight to the end.\u201d<\/p>\n

Trump hinted he may lower the cumulative 245% tariffs on Chinese goods – the centrepiece of 2 April\u2019s so-called Liberation Day strategy – to 80%.<\/p>\n

Following the meeting, Trump said “great progress” had been made to reset trade relations btween the two economic giants.<\/p>\n

Those Republican views were echoed by Sarah Elliott, director of the UK-US Special Relationship Unit at the Prosperity Institute.<\/p>\n

\u201cWednesday\u2019s deal was a big signal to Xi, ahead of the weekend\u2019s meeting, of real US-UK alignment – that the Western alliance remains strong,” she said.<\/p>\n

She added: \u201cWhat really stood out was the way the British government said this was about national security – that economic security is national security.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s a big step for a government that has been openly courting Beijing since coming to power last year.\u201d<\/p>\n

For British steel \u2013 on the verge of collapse after it was abandoned by China last month \u2013 and UK car manufacturers, the deal means that 27.5% tariffs are reduced to zero, saving thousands of jobs.<\/p>\n

But it has faced criticism in some quarters.<\/p>\n

Most of the remaining goods which the UK exports to the US will still face the 10% tariff introduced on 2 April, when Trump launched his global trade war.<\/p>\n

And Tory leader Kemi Badenoch pointed out that UK tariffs on US goods, previously at 5.1%, have now been lowered to 1.8%, whereas US tariffs on the UK \u2013 previously 3.4% \u2013 have increased to the universal 10% applied to all countries.<\/p>\n

But the US, too, has shown give-and-take, said Elliott.<\/p>\n

\u201cDonald Trump<\/a> didn\u2019t reject Lord Mandelson\u2019s bid to become UK ambassador to Washington, despite his China connections and the warnings from the security agencies,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd then you also have him going along with Starmer\u2019s Chagos deal, which makes no sense to anybody. It is strongly opposed by everyone in Trump\u2019s cabinet, including Marco Rubio, who now heads the State Department and is also currently Trump\u2019s National Security Adviser.\u201d<\/p>\n

While Trump sees tariffs as a critical revenue-raiser, his decision to put the UK in pole position for a trade deal should not be underestimated.<\/p>\n

\u201cLast week\u2019s deal shows that Trump is treating the UK in a special way,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cUS steel and aluminium will now be traded without tariffs, securing jobs in the UK and ensuring that the UK and US can build critical and defence infrastructure together. Cars and agriculture will also benefit from lower tariffs than initially expected, though these are limited by quotas, which I would like to see removed.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe UK was chosen for the first deal to be brokered since Liberation Day, when others were in the frame too. It took place on a significant day which highlighted the Special Relationship that he still believes in \u2013 and it preceded meetings with the EU and China.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is heartening that the United Kingdom is the first country to sign a new US trade deal, especially on the 80th anniversary of VE Day.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd it is only the starting point to what could become a much more comprehensive deal.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Last week\u2019s historic trade deal between the US and Britain is \u201conly the first step\u201d towards a more…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":95300,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,4],"tags":[748,1395,44673,32,393,5325,4884,4609,807,1144,712,44674,2916,16,39231,15,1764],"class_list":{"0":"post-95299","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-uk","8":"category-united-kingdom","9":"tag-britain","10":"tag-china","11":"tag-china-relations","12":"tag-donald-trump","13":"tag-england","14":"tag-free-trade-agreement","15":"tag-great-britain","16":"tag-international-relations","17":"tag-keir-starmer","18":"tag-northern-ireland","19":"tag-scotland","20":"tag-special-relationship","21":"tag-trade-deals","22":"tag-uk","23":"tag-uk-us-trade-deal","24":"tag-united-kingdom","25":"tag-wales"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114494838208880525","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95299","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=95299"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95299\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/95300"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=95299"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=95299"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=95299"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}