US and UK reach a trade agreement

This afternoon, President Trump, joined on the phone by Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, announced that the US and UK had reached a trade agreement, the first since the US announced a raft of tariffs last month. SEC Newgate’s US trade expert, Allie Renison, has spoken to the media this afternoon and has some initial thoughts below:

• While there are some positive tangible commitments to take away from this, ultimately, it's an agreement to carry on negotiating.
• This is no bad thing in itself, and clearly, Trump wanted to be able to announce a positive direction of travel, but it remains to be seen how reciprocal the final deal will be.
• The immediate reduction in US tariffs on auto imports from the UK is a welcome, but it's still well above what we faced before Trump's increases.
• Notably, the UK seems to have retained its digital services tax for now, although the wider digital trade deal being pursued could still include this.
• The reciprocal commitment on market access for beef suggests that American farmers will be getting increased access to the UK market but only for meat that confirms to British production standards.
• All in all, a pretty welcome start, but with miles more to go in terms of negotiations.
• While the White House will be pleased to have the outlines of a deal, there will be pressure to see more progress with some of its larger trading partners where barriers to US exports are higher than the UK's and where tariff retaliation is at its highest like China.