“We won the war together exactly 80 years ago … so there can be no more perfect morning to reach this historic agreement,” Trump said in the Oval Office.
The British government said U.S. tariffs on autos would be “immediately slashed” from 27.5 percent to 10 percent as part of the agreement, with those on steel and aluminum reduced to zero. Notwithstanding those carveouts, the U.K. still remains subject to Trump’s 10 percent ” baseline” tariff on all goods sent to the U.S.
London also talked up winning “unprecedented market access for British farmers,” while boasting that its protections on food standards — long prized by Brits wary of chlorinated chicken and hormone washed beefed — would be maintained.
The U.K. has agreed to accept 13,000 tonnes of U.S. beef into its market, but has insisted that this be high-quality produce, with British farmers afforded the same access to the U.S. market.
Specifics of the agreement are currently being unveiled. Trump’s commerce secretary, Howard Lutnick, told reporters in the Oval Office that the deal had “opened up new market access” in “ethanol, beef, machinery, all the agricultural products,” and that the U.K. would be buying $10 billion worth of Boeing planes.
A tariff on ethanol coming into the U.K. from the U.S. has been slashed to zero. Its digital services tax — a levy on tech giants — has not been reduced as had been suggested at one point during talks.