The UK has secured its first trade agreement with the United States since the Trump-era tariffs shook up global commerce. While the deal brings some relief—particularly in the form of reduced tariffs on British car and steel exports—it stops well short of restoring pre-tariff trading conditions. A flat 10% levy on most goods remains firmly in place.
The agreement was formally announced in Washington, with President Trump speaking from the Oval Office and Prime Minister Keir Starmer joining remotely. Both leaders framed the deal as a testament to the enduring strength of the transatlantic relationship. But beneath the diplomatic niceties lies a more sobering reality: the deal is narrow in scope, incomplete in detail, and leaves the UK in a weaker trading position than before Trump’s trade war began.
Alan Beattie in the FT was sceptical:
“How much legal structure will this deal have?” a trade lawyer at a prominent firm asked me yesterday, gesturing at the detritus of a meeting on the conference table in front of him. “About the same as this napkin.”
Not even the architects of the trade deal announced between the US and the UK would call it a thing of economic or legal beauty. Seemingly without even a signed document — and designed purely to escape the tariffs that Donald Trump imposed on steel and cars — the pact is closer to a protection payment to a mob boss than a liberalising agreement between sovereign countries.
This new agreement poses risks to the UK, before even considering the wider implications. Given how eager the UK was to make a deal, there’s no guarantee that Trump won’t come back for more. As per the poet Rudyard Kipling, the thing about Dane-geld — the protection money with which kings in medieval Anglo-Saxon England bought off Viking invaders — is that “once you have paid him the Dane-geld, you never get rid of the Dane”.
Welcoming the deal, President Trump said:
“Folks, I just made the greatest, most luxurious trade deal with the United Kingdom—possibly the best trade deal in the history of deals. People are calling it ‘The Crown Jewel of Trade,’ and they should, because it’s dripping in gold. The King himself called me, he said, ‘Donald, you’ve outdone Churchill,’ and I believe he meant it. I really do.
Now listen—London is a tremendous city. Tremendous. I’ve had some incredible times there. One time—this was years ago, before politics, before the fake news got involved—I had a little… let’s call it a diplomatic engagement with a pair of twins. Stunning ladies. Stunning! One had the accent, the other had the moves. It was like dealing with the Senate—confusing, thrilling, and nobody knew who was in charge.
So now we’re bringing American burgers to British pubs and sending Yorkshire pudding to Texas. The special relationship just got very special. God bless America, and God mildly flatter the UK!”
The above quote might be entirely made up, but nothing is real in this post-truth world anymore.
Managing Editor of Slugger O’Toole. I help to manage Slugger by taking care of the site as well as running our live events. My background is in business, marketing and IT. My politics tend towards middle-of-the-road pragmatism; I am not a member of any political party. When not stuck in front of a screen, I am a parkrun Run Director.
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