Latest news with #UKexports
Times
13 hours ago
- Automotive
- Times
As Starmer and Trump agree a trade deal, what about steel?
The optics of Sir Keir Starmer scrabbling around at President Trump's feet to quite literally pick up the pieces of Britain's trade deal with the United States were far from ideal. But the scene was also a fitting visual metaphor for an agreement that was negotiated in haste and is, even now, still a work in progress. The good news for the UK is that the executive order signed by Trump on Monday will 'operationalise' parts of the agreement, including reducing the present 27.5 per cent American tariff on cars to 10 per cent for the first 100,000 vehicles shipped from the UK each year. This will be particularly welcomed by key UK exporters, such as Jaguar Land Rover, for whom the US is a major market. The company had been concerned about delays in implementing the agreement. The deal will also ensure that UK exports of jet engines and aerospace components to the US are spared from American tariffs. This confirms that the UK will be exempt from any levies emerging from a US national security probe that Trump has launched into the industry. However, Trump's declaration — 'We just signed it and it's done' — shortly after meeting Starmer, is not entirely accurate. That's because the executive order is silent on tariff-free UK exports of steel and aluminium, an issue agreed in principle last month but not yet implemented. UK officials said that 'technical and legal' issues were continuing to delay the confirmation of a quota that would allow British exporters to avoid the 25 per cent global steel tariff imposed by Trump on national security grounds. Industry figures do not expect a deal to be signed until the end of the month at the earliest — and even that timeline is subject to further delay. There are real concerns that the deal could exclude Tata Steel, Britain's biggest steel manufacturer, which exports more than $100 million worth of goods to the US annually. That's because the company shut down its blast furnace at Port Talbot last year as part of a three-year transition to a new, greener electric arc furnace at the site. In the interim, Tata is importing semi-finished steel from its sister companies in India and the Netherlands for finishing in the UK before shipping it to customers — including in the United States. However, this may fall foul of strict US import rules requiring that all steel be 'melted and poured' in the country of origin to qualify for tariff exemptions — potentially putting it outside the scope of the trade deal. British negotiators have been pushing for a carve-out for Tata, but the issue remains unresolved — and is the main reason the metals provision was omitted from Trump's executive order. The UK side remains optimistic a solution will be found. Starmer himself said he was 'really pleased' that the UK was the only country to have secured any kind of trade deal with the US. Yet the image may still prove prescient: even if the deal is fully implemented, the UK's trading terms with the United States will remain worse than they were before Trump came into office.
NHK
18 hours ago
- Automotive
- NHK
US, UK sign trade deal at G7 summit
US President Donald Trump and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer signed a trade agreement at the Group of Seven summit in Canada on Monday. The deal was reached following bilateral negotiations on US tariffs in May. It includes increased access to British markets for US exports and the United Kingdom's reduction or elimination of non-tariff barriers against the United States. Up to 100,000 UK-made automobiles a year will be subject to a 10 percent tariff, which includes the existing levy. Trump told reporters on Monday, "It's a fair deal for both. And it produces a lot of jobs, a lot of income." For UK-produced steel and aluminum products, the agreement calls for introducing a "tariff-rate quota" or reducing the tariffs to a low level. But no details were included, and discussions will reportedly continue.
Bloomberg
a day ago
- Business
- Bloomberg
Starmer, Trump Agree to Implement Tariff-Cutting Trade Deal
Prime Minister Keir Starmer reached an agreement with US President Donald Trump to implement trading terms disclosed last month to slash US tariffs on key British exports and raise UK quotas on certain American agricultural products. Trump and Starmer on Monday presented a document signed at the Group of Seven meeting in Kananaskis, Canada, agreeing to move forward on measures easing trade of cars, agricultural and aerospace products — but falling short of an immediate ease of steel tariffs, a key British ask.
BBC News
09-05-2025
- Automotive
- BBC News
What is in the UK-US tariff deal?
The UK and the US have reached a deal over tariffs on some goods traded between the countries. President Donald Trump's blanket 10% tariffs on imports from countries around the world remains in place and still applies to most UK goods entering the US. But the deal has reduced or removed tariffs on some of the UK's exports, including cars, steel and aluminium. Here's an at-a-glance look at what's in the deal. This isn't a trade deal Trump declared on social media this announcement would be a "major trade deal" - it's not. He does not have the authority to sign the type of free-trade agreement India and the UK finalised earlier this week - this lies with Congress. Congress would need to approve a trade agreement, which would take longer than the 90-day pause in place on some of Trump's tariffs. This is an agreement which has reversed or cut some of those tariffs on specific goods. What was announced today is only the bare bones of a narrow agreement. There will be months of negotiations and legal paperwork to follow. Car tariffs cut to 10% Trump had placed import taxes of 25% on cars and car parts coming into the US on top of the existing 2.5%. This has been cut to 10% for a maximum of 100,000 UK cars, which matches the number of cars the UK exported last year. But any cars exported above that 100,000 will be subject to a 27.5% import tax. Cars are the UK's biggest export to the US - worth about £9bn last year. Car industry leaders have told the BBC the quota could effectively put a ceiling on the number they can export competitively. The UK currently imposes a 10% on US car imports, but it is not yet clear if there had been any change to this. The US has previously demanded the import tax be cut to 2.5%, and Chancellor Rachel Reeves has indicated she is open to such a cut. Trump also announced that Rolls Royce engines and plane parts will be able to be exported from the UK to the US tariff-free. He also said the UK was buying $10bn worth of Boeing planes from the US. No tariffs on steel and aluminium A 25% tariff on steel and aluminium imports into the US that came into effect in March has been scrapped as part of this deal. This is huge news for firms such as British Steel which was brought under government control as it struggled to stay operational. The UK exports a relatively small amount of steel and aluminium to the US, around £700m in total. However the tariffs also cover products made with steel and aluminium, including things such as gym equipment, furniture and machinery. These are worth much more, about £2.2bn, or about 5% of UK exports to the US last year. It is not yet clear whether the scrapping of tariffs will apply to steel derivative products and whether only steel melted and poured in the UK will benefit. Pharmaceuticals still the big unknown What will be agreed on pharmaceuticals is still unknown. "Work will continue on the remaining sectors – such as pharmaceuticals and remaining reciprocal tariffs," a statement from the UK government said. Most countries, including the US, imposed few or no tariffs on finished drugs, as part of an agreement aimed at keeping medicines affordable. Pharmaceuticals are a major export for the UK when it comes to US trade – last year sales of medicinal and pharmaceutical products were worth £6.6bn ($8.76bn) making it the UK's second-biggest export to the US. It's also America's fourth biggest export to the UK, valued at £4bn ($5.3bn) last year. The president has not announced any trade restrictions on medicines yet. No change on digital services tax There was no change to the UK's 2% digital services tax on US firms in this deal, despite reports there could be. Businesses that run social media, search engines or online marketplaces pay this tax which applies to revenues derived from UK users. Firms only have to pay it if they raise more than £500m in global revenues and £25m from UK users annually. But this is a threshold easily met by US tech giants like Meta, Google, Apple. The UK reportedly netted nearly £360m from American tech firms via the tax in its first year. Instead of any change to the digital services tax the UK and US had "agreed to work on a digital trade deal", the UK government said. It said this would "strip back paperwork for British firms trying to export to the US – opening the UK up to a huge market that will put rocket boosters on the UK economy". No drop to food standards The UK has removed tariffs on American beef and other agricultural products, Trump said. UK farmers have also been given a tariff free quota for 13,000 metric tonnes of exports, which trade ministers said was the "first time" British farmers had been given this kind of deal. There will be no weakening of UK food standards on imports, the UK government statement said. Many American farmers use growth hormones as a standard part of their beef production, something that was banned in the UK and the European Union in the 1980s. The US has previously pushed for a relaxation of rules for its agricultural products, including beef from cattle that have been given growth hormones. This is an area where the UK has chosen alignment with EU - and the forthcoming "Brexit reset" with the EU - over the US. The tariff on ethanol which is used to produce beer coming into the UK from the US has also been scrapped. "They'll also be fast tracking American goods through their customs process, so our exports go to a very, very quick form of approval, and there won't be any red tape," Trump said.
Yahoo
08-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
US and UK expected to make announcements after Trump touts a 'major trade deal'
WASHINGTON (AP) — The United States and Britain are expected to announce a trade deal on Thursday that will lower the burden of President Donald Trump's sweeping tariffs and potentially deliver a political victory for Prime Minister Keir Starmer. Trump said on Wednesday that he would announce a 'major trade deal' with a 'big, highly respected country,' which he did not identify. A U.S. official confirmed the country was Britain, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss talks before an announcement. Starmer's office said the prime minister would give an 'update' about U.S. trade talks later in the day. 'As you know, talks with the U.S. have been ongoing and you'll hear more from me about that later today.' Starmer said at a defense conference in London. The president placed a 10% tax on imports from Britain, as well as 25% tariffs on autos, steel and aluminum on the premise that doing so would foster more factory jobs domestically. A major goal of British negotiators has been to reduce or lift the U.S. import tax on U.K. cars and steel. The prospects of a trade deal with the United Kingdom are symbolically important, and a relief for British exporters. But an agreement would do little to address Trump's core concern about persistent trade deficits that prompted him to impose import taxes on countries around the world. The U.S. ran a $11.9 billion trade surplus in goods with the U.K. last year, according to the Census Bureau. The $68 billion in goods that the U.S. imported from the U.K. last year accounted for just 2% of all goods imported into the country. Trump has shown a desire to strike a trade agreement with the U.K. since it voted in 2016 to leave the European Union. As recently as Tuesday, Trump showed no awareness of the possible terms of the deal when asked about its possibility. 'They're offering us concessions?' Trump told reporters. 'I hope so... They do want to make a deal very badly.' Trump has previously said that his leverage in talks would be U.S. consumers, but he also appeared to suggest that the U.K. would also start buying more American-made goods. 'I think that the United Kingdom, like every other country, they want to, they want to be, go shopping in the United States of America.' ___ Lawless reported from London. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
