The trade agreement between VK and US is also significant for other countries

The details were not all elaborated yet. And the symbolism and size of the agreements were considerably thickened. « Historical, » said British Prime Minister Keir Starmer de Deal on Thursday, between the United Kingdom and the United States. And « a true tribute to the history of our close cooperation. » « A breakthrough with one of our most cherished allies, » said US President Donald Trump.

Apart from all that rhetoric, the trade agreement that the US and the UK presented on Thursday indeed has a broader international significance. The agreements are probably the start of reducing American import rates for several countries.

« We are close to agreements with all kinds of countries, » said President Trump, who is under pressure because the American economy is already starting to notice the negative consequences of the trade war. For Prime Minister Starmer (Labor) it was now a considerable diplomatic achievement that the UK was the first country to make new agreements with the US worldwide.

President Trump imposed the United Kingdom on the great announcement of his import rates at the beginning of April, the ‘basic rate’ of 10 percent for all imported goods. In March, higher rates of 25 percent for specific sectors such as steel, aluminum and car production had already been discussed. That 10 percent also remains the basis for the UK. But for the automotive sector, the rate drops to that ‘general’ percentage. At least for the first 100,000 cars, and that is also about the number that the UK exports annually. For steel and aluminum, the rate even drops to 0 percent. The new percentages will enter ‘as quickly as possible’.

In exchange for these reductions, the UK has promised to purchase 10 billion dollars (around 8.84 billion euros) in aircraft from the American aviation company Boeing. And the British import tariffs go down for several goods, machines and for chemicals such as ethanol, which is used for beer production. For beef, reciprocal agreements have been made about quantities of meat that companies are allowed to trade for tariff -free. The rules for the quality of the meat do not change, the British government emphasized.

It didn’t work before

British diplomats naturally like Thursday’s deal as their own success – and as a result of the good relationship between President Trump and Prime Minister Starmer. But the agreement also gives other governments an impression of what is approximately feasible for them. Because the US has negotiations with nearly twenty countries that want their import rates to be reduced. The American Minister of Finance Scott Bessent said earlier this week that agreements with India, South Korea and Japan are almost complete. And next weekend, conversations between the US and China, which imposed the most fieriest rates together.

Since 2020, successive British governments have been trying to conclude a more comprehensive trade agreement with the US without success. Trump said on Thursday that « after years and years of negotiations is finally time ». But the size of these agreements is much more limited than those earlier ambitions of both countries. After retirement from the European Union, a broad trade agreement between the US and the UK was a kind of economic prize for London. Only it never happened, because the two countries did not agree on conditions about agricultural products and medicines.

The British government wanted these agreements with Washington before their top meeting with the European Union, which is on the agenda for Monday 19 May. The negotiations are still in full swing for that top. The idea is that the two parties there make a number of basic agreements about, among other things, defense, energy and trade in animal products. Negotiations must be made on the precise interpretation of those agreements.

Labor Leed Loss

Prime Minister Starmer and his ministers often emphasize that the UK does not have to choose between the US and the EU when it comes to trade conditions. Labor wants to grow the stagnant British economy faster and sees more flexible trade with all countries as an important element for that. « It’s not and/or, it’s and/and, » said Starmer.

As a block, the European Union is much more important for the UK than the United States. Trade in goods with the EU is more than four times the size of the US. According to Trump, who has little appreciation for the European Union, Thursday’s agreements were only possible « thanks to the Brexit ». At the same time, starmer and his negotiators knew where their limits were. For example, the EU had made it clear that if London made commitments to the US about lower food standards, which would make closer agreements with Brussels impossible.

This deal came for a starmer at a political time, although the prime minister admitted that he was surprised by a call from Trump on Wednesday evening. He suddenly wanted to get the agreements around as quickly as possible and so the team of starmer in Humbler arranged a press conference for the prime minister at a Jaguar Land Rover car factory. To show that he always had « the hard -working Brit » in mind during the negotiations.

Last week LaFour suffered heavy losses in local elections and the party is under pressure to finance more financially British with low and middle incomes. Starmer said this deal will save « thousands of jobs » in the UK. The British car industry and trade unions from the steel sector responded in full to the agreements made. Also the British media, who prefer to be cynical, were unable to conclude that Starmer and his team had booked a ‘victory’ here.

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