President Donald Trump announced a new model Thursday for a bilateral trade deal with the United Kingdom, his primary trade bargain since launching an overall tax plan last month.
White House officials previously told the Washington Examiner that the administration was close to agreeing to talks with a number of buying lovers. The U. K. contract, which will maintain a level 10 % tax on the region, has yet to be finalized, with certain pledges being negotiated over the next several months.  ,
” They’re somewhat similar markets. The framework was constantly going to be a little bit easier than, say, China or something like that”, one White House aide said ahead of Thursday’s news.
According to the president and British officials, Trump personally negotiated the deal with the U. K.  , Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said Trump was the” closer”, and Peter Mandelson, the British Ambassador to the U. S., credited Trump’s” 11th-hour intervention” with a phone call “demanding even more out of this deal than any of us expected”.
Trump also used the news to bat down reviewers who doubted his” Liberation Day” price program and whether his 90-day wait on global taxes would be enough time to cement fresh business deals.
” Everyone wants to make a deal with the United States”, Trump said. ” So we’re doing that … We’re going to make good discounts. I’m merely honored that this was the first one”.
Trump initially announced the package Thursday night on Truth Social but was joined by people of his Cabinet and, by telephone, U. K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer in the Oval Office just before lunch to talk on the deal. The leader opened by noting that the deal was being announced on May 8, the celebration of the Allied Powers ‘ World War II Victory over Nazi Germany.
” So there could be no more perfect day to approach this ancient deal. And it’s wonderful wind out”, he remarked.
Trump told reporters that, while the actual details of the deal won’t be finalized for several days, it will provide “millions of dollars of increased market access for British imports”, including agricultural materials such as meat, alcohol, and industrial materials.
Trump also claimed that the U. K. would drop some of its targeted trade barriers on American products and that the deal would include a” first of its kind” economic security agreement.
” We have a big economic security blanket, and that’s very important, and we feel very, very comfortable with that, because it’s been a great ally, truly one of our great allies”, Trump explained. ” A lot of people say our greatest ally. I don’t want to insult people by saying that, but I can say it’s certainly one of our greatest right at the top, and they’re the first one we’re talking about”.
Starmer added that Thursday’s announcement is a “real tribute” to the bond between the U. S. and the U. K.
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick estimated that concessions from the U. K. would provide$ 5 billion in market opportunities for American exporters and claimed that the 10 % tariff the president will maintain on the country will produce$ 6 billion in revenue.
” What we’ve shown is that it is time to change the way we do trade. People said we couldn’t do a global tariff. We did a global tariff. They said no one would want to deal with us”, added U. S. Trade Rep. Jamieson Greer. ” And here we are with the deal, with the]world’s ] sixth-largest economy. We’ve agreed to have fair and reciprocal trade, and we’ve done it in record time”.
Following his remarks, Trump did take issue with a reporter’s question about the president’s” conclusive” framing, given that there is “much more work still to do”.
” This is a very conclusive deal, but we think we can grow it even from that. But this is a maxed-out deal, not like you said it. You said it really incorrectly”, Trump retorted. ” It’s a very big deal right now, but I think it’s going to grow, just of its own volition” . ,
While the exact content of the deal is unknown, American Enterprise Institute foreign policy senior fellow Dalibor Rohac says real, serious, and comprehensive free trade agreements take years to negotiate.
” What the U. S. U. K. agreement will likely involve]is ] cuts to the absurd, arbitrary tariff rates imposed on April 2, in exchange for some minor British concessions, which may or may not be trade related”, Rohac told the Washington Examiner. ” Basically a retreat from]the ] protectionist policy baseline of the past month or so”.
Rohac described the deal as” a welcome development but not a groundbreaking one given that the administration is continuing to wage a senseless trade war against the rest of the world” . ,
” It is good if the president is looking for a politically palatable off-ramp — but no one should be under the illusion that this is about actual trade liberalization or strengthening of the trans-Atlantic trade and economic links”, he said.
To that end, the European Union released a blueprint this week for how it plans to respond to Trump’s tariffs as a bloc.
In a statement before the announcement, Trump said it was an “honor” to sign this first trade deal of his second term with the U. K.
” The agreement with the United Kingdom is a full and comprehensive one that will cement the relationship between the United States and the United Kingdom for many years to come”, the president wrote on Truth Social. ” Many other deals, which are in serious stages of negotiation, to follow”!
Secretary of State Marco Rubio called Thursday’s developments an “important step towards fair and reciprocal trade with our partners around the world”.
” Looking forward to many great deals]the Trump ] administration will deliver for the American people”, he wrote in a statement on X.
Still, reports indicated that this first deal will have a limited scope and include commitments to future exchange of goods between the countries. U. K. officials told CNN that, despite the principal agreement, Trump will maintain the same 10 % flat tariff he levied on all trade partners in April.
For the foreseeable future, the U. K. will also remain subject to the sectoral tariffs the president has raised in recent months, including a 25 % rate for steel, aluminum, and automobiles. Trump told reporters at the White House on Monday that he would roll out his long-teased tariffs on pharmaceutical products “over the next two weeks” . ,
The Trump administration will look to face down that challenge this weekend. Greer and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent are traveling to Geneva, Switzerland, this weekend for meetings with European leaders and the first direct talks with trade emissaries from Beijing since Trump launched his tariff agenda.
When the president paused the reciprocal tariff rollout for 90 days in April, he raised the effective tariff rate on China to 145 %. On Wednesday, Trump said he had no plans to lower that rate to foster productive negotiations, as Beijing requested.
TRUMP SAYS HEWON’T DROP TARIFFS ON CHINA TO FACILITATE TRADE NEGOTIATIONS, AS REQUESTED BY BEIJING
China responded to Trump’s tariffs earlier this year by placing 125 % tariffs on American goods.
Watch Trump’s remarks in full below.
