Donald Trump is expected to announce a trade deal between the United States and the United Kingdom on Thursday.
The president, aiming to enhance America’s trade relationships after alleging that numerous partners have been taking advantage, hinted at a significant agreement set to be announced on Thursday.
Trump posted: ‘Important News Conference tomorrow morning at 10:00 A.M., in The Oval Office, regarding a SIGNIFICANT TRADE AGREEMENT WITH REPRESENTATIVES OF A LARGE, AND HIGHLY ESTEEMED, NATION. THE FIRST OF MANY!!!’
The New York Times reported that the country in question was the United Kingdom. DailyMail.com has reached out to the White House for comment.
A UK representative stated on Tuesday that both nations had made substantial headway on a trade agreement, which would probably involve reduced tariff limits on steel and automobiles.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer has been rushing to seal a pact with America before his big Brexit ‘reset’, due to be unveiled at a summit with the EU on May 19.
According to the Financial Times, the package on the table includes quotas that could protect UK exports of cars and steel, as well as reductions in the headline rates.
In return Britain is expected to make concessions on a new ‘digital tax’, as well as lowering tariffs on US cars and farming products.
Donald Trump is expected to announce a trade deal between the United States and the United Kingdom on Thursday
Prime Minister Keir Starmer (pictured left) has been rushing to seal a pact with America before his big Brexit ‘reset’, due to be unveiled at a summit with the EU on May 19
Trump’s top officials have engaged in a flurry of meetings with trading partners since the president on April 2 imposed a 10 percent tariff on most countries, along with higher ‘reciprocal’ tariff rates for many trading partners, though those rates were later suspended for 90 days.
Britain was not among the countries hit with additional tariffs, because it imports more from the U.S. than it exports there.
Trump has also imposed 25 percent tariffs on autos, steel and aluminum, 25 percent tariffs on Canada and Mexico, and 145 percent tariffs on China.
On Tuesday, Trump said that he and top administration officials would review potential trade deals over the next two weeks to decide which ones to accept.
Last week, he said that he has ‘potential’ trade deals with India, South Korea and Japan.
Trump raised the prospect of a Transatlantic trade deal when they met at the White House in February – before the president unveiled his ‘Liberation Day’ tariff barrage.
Hopes have dwindled of the United Kingdom getting an exemption from the ‘baseline’ 10 per cent charges on goods entering America.
Starmer has ruled out several concessions the US was thought to be looking for as the price of a deal.
Starmer has ruled out several concessions the US was thought to be looking for as the price of a deal
These include reductions in food standards rules that limit imports of American agricultural goods and changes to online safety legislation that some US politicians believe limit freedom of speech.
Over the past few months, the administration has launched, relaunched, and edited a battery of tariffs — ranging from 10 percent to 145 percent — targeting nearly every type of imported good.
Trump said Wednesday he would ‘think about’ tariff exemptions for child-related products like car seats and diapers in order to bring the cost of them down.
Tariffs on China are hitting parents hard in their wallets.
Virtually every car seat, stroller, bassinet and changing table sold in the U.S. is made in China.
Trump has doubled Chinese tariffs, causing the prices of these items to increase.
‘I don’t know. I’ll think about it,’ Trump told reporters in the Oval Office when asked about exemptions for childcare products.
‘I want to make it nice and simple. I’m not looking to have so many exemptions that nobody knows what we’re doing. We have to make it very simple but I’ll take a look at it.’
The president’s comments came as investors anxiously await planned trade talks between Washington and Beijing on Saturday, which could mark the first step in resolving a potentially damaging trade war between the world’s top two economies.
