President Donald Trump said the U.S. has reached a trade deal with the United Kingdom, the first trade pact since he paused reciprocal tariffs and began negotiating with countries to lower trade barriers.
“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,” Trump posted on social media May 8 after teasing the announcement the night before without details. “Because of our long time history and allegiance together, it is a great honor to have the United Kingdom as our FIRST announcement.”
Trump has a press conference scheduled at the White House at 10 am EDT on May 8 to discuss the deal.
Trump imposed reciprocal tariffs on a slew of countries April 2 but later paused most of them for 90 days, saying those nations’ leaders were eager to negotiate trade deals. Since then administration officials repeatedly have said they are close to making deals.
The UK wasn’t hit with a reciprocal tariff, but faces a 10% universal tariff and 25% tariffs Trump imposed on foreign automobiles, steel and aluminum.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio praised the trade deal with the United Kingdom as “an important step towards fair and reciprocal trade” with other countries around the world.
“Looking forward to the many great deals your administration will deliver for the American people!” Rubio wrote on social media. -Bart Jansen
U.S. stock markets rose in initial trading after Trump’s announcement of a trade deal with the United Kingdom.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 198.6 points or 0.48% at the opening of trading May 8. The S&P 500 rose 32.3 points or 0.57% in initial trading. And the Nasdaq composite rose 182 points or 1.03% at the opening bell. – Reuters
Details on Trump’s trade deal with the United Kingdom remain under wraps.
But the two nations exchange a much smaller amount of goods and services – largely cars and chemicals heading to the U.S. – than the U.S. does with its largest trading partners.
The U.S. exported nearly $80 billion in goods and services in 2024, according to the Census Department, while importing about $68 billion. That ranks the United Kingdom ninth in trade with the U.S.Machinery and transport equipment was also the main goods exported from the United Kingdom in 2023, with cars representing nearly half the exports and putting that country ahead of Germany for car imports, according to that country’s trade office.
Chemical exports, mostly for pharmaceuticals, account for nearly one-quarter of the exports, were the second largest group of commodities exported.
The United Kingdom figures are dwarfed by trade with Mexico at $839 billion in goods and serves exchanging across the border last year, Canada with $762 billion and China with $582 billion. Trump met with Canada’s Prime Minister Mark Carney and talks are set to begin with China. – Bart Jansen
Trump’s announcement already is being met with skepticism.
University of Michigan economist Justin Wolfers told CNN he wouldn’t consider it a major trade deal, noting the United Kingdom only accounts for about 3% of U.S. trade.
“The president’s a showman, he’s going to tell you there’s all sorts of wonderful things about it,” Wolfers said. – Zac Anderson
Trump commented about the intense interest in the trade deals during a May 6 meeting with the prime minister of Canada.
“Everyone says: ‘When, when, when are you going to sign deals?” Trump said. “We don’t have to sign deals. We could sign 25 deals right now . . . if we wanted. We don’t have to sign deals. They have to sign deals with us. They want a piece of our market.”
The president also expressed frustration with the constant questions. “I wish they’d stop asking how many deals are you signing this week,” he said.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told lawmakers during a May 6 committee hearing that deals could be signed soon.
“I would think that perhaps as early as this week we will be announcing trade deals with some of our largest trading partners,” Bessent said. – Zac Anderson
There are 18 countries that Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent described as “major trading partners.” He said negotiations have begun with all of them except China, but talks between U.S. and Chinese officials are now scheduled.
Bessent and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer are traveling to Switzerland on May 8, where they will meet with China’s “lead representative on economic matters.”
Chinese President Xi Jinping is also meeting on May 8 with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow. Jinping told Putin their two countries should be “friends of steel”, as they pledged to boost cooperation to a new level at a time of heightened confrontation with the West.
At talks in the Kremlin, the two leaders cast themselves as defenders of a new world order no longer dominated by the United States. – Reuters/Zac Anderson
Contributing: Reuters