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Donald Trump is set to announce a trade deal with the UK on Thursday, making Britain the first country to reach an agreement with the US since the White House announced sweeping tariffs last month.
UK officials expect the deal to be limited in scope and focused on the car and steel industries, those hit hardest by Trump’s trade war, with 25 per cent tariffs on their US exports.
The US president said in a post on his Truth Social platform on Wednesday that a “Big News Conference” was coming “concerning a MAJOR TRADE DEAL WITH REPRESENTATIVES OF A BIG, AND HIGHLY RESPECTED, COUNTRY”.
People familiar with the plan on both sides of the Atlantic said the announcement related to a trade agreement with the UK. It would be the second trade deal in a week for UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, who sealed a pact with India on Tuesday.
But British officials admit it will fall far short of the kind of comprehensive post-Brexit free trade agreement targeted by the past Conservative government.
The Financial Times reported on Tuesday that Washington and London were close to agreeing a pact that would offer lower-tariff quotas for British cars and steel exports.
British officials have also been talking to the Trump team to try to avert future US tariffs on products including pharmaceuticals and aerospace. “A commitment on pharma would be pretty huge,” said one.
UK negotiators have also tried to persuade Trump to cut his 10 per cent global “baseline tariff” on the UK, but conceded that is not about to happen.
However, officials in London say they expect Thursday’s agreement to open the door for further talks, including the possibility of cutting the 10 per cent tariff for specific British exports.
Britain is expected to cut duties on US imports as part of the deal, with potential reductions to its 10 per cent tariff on car imports along with levies on meat and shellfish products. There has also been discussion of the UK reducing its digital services tax, which hits US tech groups.
A spokesperson for Starmer said: “The United States is an indispensable ally for both our economic and national security. Talks on a deal between our countries have been continuing at pace and the prime minister will update later today.”
Starmer, who is attending VE Day events in Britain on Thursday, is not travelling to Washington for the announcement.
The expected UK-US agreement is one of 17 that Trump has been aiming to sign with America’s major trading partners as the White House rows back on the global tariffs announced on April 2.
The US president has been under pressure to deliver some early deals to convince investors that he is serious about de-escalating after his April 2 “liberation day” announcement triggered turmoil across financial markets.
Starmer is also under pressure to strike a deal with Washington after the car and steel industries warned of “devastating” effects from the tariffs.
Vincent Clerc, chief executive of the world’s second-largest container shipping group AP Møller-Maersk, told the FT that a UK-US trade deal would be “very good news if it’s a sign that we have begun to de-escalate this situation”.
Trump administration officials have also been holding talks with Japan, Vietnam, India and the EU among other countries.
US Treasury secretary Scott Bessent is set to travel to Switzerland on Thursday ahead of talks with Chinese officials. Tensions between Washington and Beijing have triggered fears of a damaging decline in trade between the world’s two largest economies.
The White House did not respond to requests for comment.