Britain blinked against a bullying Trumpian America. Others must not

South China Morning Post

14-05-2025

The UK-US trade deal, trumpeted by President Donald Trump as a grand achievement, is no triumph of statecraft. It is a
hollow spectacle , political theatre masquerading as economic progress.
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For Britain, it lays bare the perils of negotiating from weakness. For other major economies – the
European Union
Japan or China – it stands as a cautionary tale. They must heed Britain's experience: strength, not desperation, must define their approach; substance, not optics, must be their demand.
Strip away the bombast, and
the deal reveals itself as lopsided. Britain receives some relief on tariffs on cars and steel, and secures modest access to US markets for agricultural goods but at a steep cost: acquiescence to stringent American standards that threaten to undercut its own producers.
Meanwhile, a
10 per cent tariff persists on most British exports, still higher than a few months ago. In return, the US gains expansive entry into British markets – pharmaceuticals, technology services – offering little in meaningful reciprocity. The UK government said the deal was needed to save up to 150,000 jobs. This is not the art of the deal – it is a strategic capitulation.
But Britain is vulnerable – born of
post-Brexit isolation . Having cast off the EU, the country drifts economically, burdened by a shrinking economy and rising unemployment.
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