Latest news with #UKUSTradeDeal
The Sun
14-05-2025
- Business
- The Sun
Trump forces Britain to strip out Chinese ingredients from UK-made medicines under trade deal
BRITAIN will strip Chinese ingredients from UK-made medicines bound for the US after pressure from Donald Trump, The Sun can reveal. The condition is part of the landmark UK-US trade pact signed last week, which slashed tariffs on British steel and car exports. 2 2 In return, Britain had to swallow strict national security measures - including a clause to stop the UK becoming a 'backdoor' for Chinese goods entering the American market. The US President has long accused the Communist giant of rigging trade, stealing IP and flooding Western markets with cheap state-backed goods. It is understood one key demand is that any drugs exported from Britain to America must be free from Chinese-made chemicals and components. A Government source told The Sun: "We are going to work with the pharmaceutical industry to secure the supply chain." The restriction applies only to exports - meaning medicines for British patients can still include ingredients from China. But insiders fear it could fuel wider pressure to cut ties with Beijing across the board. The UK is heavily dependent on Chinese drug factories, with around 80 per cent of the chemicals used in global medicine production sourced from China - including those used in antibiotics, painkillers and treatments for sepsis, diabetes and high blood pressure. China yesterday reacted furiously to the deal, accusing the UK of teaming up with Washington to shut Chinese firms out of Western markets. Foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian told the FT: 'Co-operation between states should not be conducted against or to the detriment of the interests of third parties,' But campaigners say Britain is still far too reliant on China for life-saving supplies - and must go further. Luke de Pulford, of the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China, said: 'The UK cosplays as tough on China to placate the US, but when it comes to the actual policy, we don't deliver. The UK is too dependent on Beijing for pharmaceuticals and, like the US, needs to diversify. If US consumers need to be protected from dependency on totalitarian Xi for medicines, so do we.' Despite pharmaceuticals being left out of last week's deal, UK officials say further talks are ongoing and the government claims Britain will receive 'preferential treatment' if Washington imposes new tariffs on drug imports. The boss of the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry Richard Torbett said: "Although this initial deal is only a first step for pharmaceutical products, we remain convinced that reaching a favourable outcome remains possible and in the interests of both countries. "Free trade between the UK and the US is critical to supply chain resilience, ensuring patients in both countries have access to the medicines and vaccines they need. "US tariffs on UK pharmaceuticals run counter to that goal and should be avoided."
South China Morning Post
14-05-2025
- Business
- South China Morning Post
Britain has capitulated to Trump's coercive trade. Others must resist
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. 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.
The Independent
12-05-2025
- Business
- The Independent
UK-US Trade deal is playing into Trump's ‘divide and conquer' strategy says Nobel Prize-winning economist
A Nobel Prize-winning economist has said that the latest UK -US trade deal is 'playing into Trump's strategy.' "I would view it as playing into Trump's strategy," said leading economist Joseph Stiglit on Sky News on 11 May. "His strategy is divide and conquer, go after the weakest countries, and sort of put the stronger countries in the back" he added. Donald Trump unveiled a "historic agreement" with the UK, the culmination of Sir Keir Starmer 's months-long charm offensive towards the US president. (9 May)
Yahoo
12-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
UK-US Trade deal is playing into Trump's ‘divide and conquer' strategy says Nobel Prize-winning economist
A Nobel Prize-winning economist has said that the latest UK-US trade deal is 'playing into Trump's strategy.' "I would view it as playing into Trump's strategy," said leading economist Joseph Stiglit on Sky News on 11 May. "His strategy is divide and conquer, go after the weakest countries, and sort of put the stronger countries in the back" he added. Donald Trump unveiled a "historic agreement" with the UK, the culmination of Sir Keir Starmer's months-long charm offensive towards the US president. (9 May)
Sky News
11-05-2025
- Business
- Sky News
UK-US trade deal 'isn't worth the paper it's written on', Nobel Prize-winning economist tells Sky News
A Nobel Prize-winning economist has told Sky News the recently announced UK-US trade deal "isn't worth the paper it's written on". Sir Keir Starmer and Donald Trump announced the "first-of-a-kind" agreement with a live, televised phone call earlier this week - and the British prime minister hailed the deal as one that will save thousands of jobs in the UK. Politics latest: Tories criticise proposals to tackle immigration But leading economist Joseph Stiglitz has told Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips he "wouldn't view [the deal] as a great achievement". "Any agreement with Trump isn't worth the paper it's written on," he said, pointing out the president signed deals with Canada and Mexico during his first term - only to slap them with hiked tariffs within days of returning to the White House this year. "I would view it as playing into Trump's strategy," he said. "His strategy is divide and conquer, go after the weakest countries, and sort of put the stronger countries in the back." Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player 2:45 How good is the UK-US deal? The scramble to secure a UK-US trade deal was sparked by Mr Trump's 'Liberation Day' announcement last month, which saw the president hike import tariffs for multiple countries and subsequently send global markets crashing. China initially faced tariffs of 34% and when Beijing hit the US with retaliatory rates, a trade war quickly ensued. The US and China now impose tariffs of above 100% on each other, but representatives from the two countries have this weekend met for high-stakes negotiations. Read more: Key details in the UK-US deal Analysis - the challenge Starmer faces Image: Donald Trump, with US vice president JD Vance and Britain's ambassador to the US Peter Mandelson, announcing the deal. Pic: AP Image: Sir Keir Starmer dialled in for the deal announcement. Pic: AP With its response to Mr Trump, Beijing "made it very clear that the US is very dependent on China in so many ways," Mr Stiglitz said. "So they're beginning now to negotiate, but from a position of strength." Spreaker This content is provided by Spreaker , which may be using cookies and other technologies. To show you this content, we need your permission to use cookies. You can use the buttons below to amend your preferences to enable Spreaker cookies or to allow those cookies just once. You can change your settings at any time via the Privacy Options. Unfortunately we have been unable to verify if you have consented to Spreaker cookies. To view this content you can use the button below to allow Spreaker cookies for this session only. Enable Cookies Allow Cookies Once 👉 Click here to listen to Electoral Dysfunction on your podcast app 👈 Asked if he thinks the UK should have focused on its relationship with the EU instead of the US, Mr Stiglitz said: "Very much so. "My view is that if you had worked with the EU to get a good deal, you could have done better than what you've done. "If it turns out, in the end, when you work it all out, Trump is unhappy, he'll run. If he's unhappy, I pray for you." Among the terms in the UK-US trade deal are reduced tariffs on British car and steel exports to the US, while the UK has agreed to remove a tariff on ethanol, used to produce beer. The agreement also opens a new agricultural exchange, with US farmers being given access to the UK for the first time - though UK food standards on imports have not been weakened.
