The UK-US deal is the first such agreement struck since Donald Trump came to power.
The UK and the US have agreed a trade deal which will eliminate a series of tariffs which had begun to have an impact on British businesses.
The deal is the first such agreement struck by the US since Donald Trump came to power, and offers the UK a reprieve from tariffs on cars and the steel industry, in exchange for greater access by American agriculture to British markets.
Here the PA news agency outlines some of the key points of the deal.
– Steel and aluminium tariffs
The US has removed the 25% tariff rate on UK steel and aluminium exports, reducing the trade barrier for these goods to zero.
The agreement will offer a reprieve to Britain’s steel industry, which only weeks ago was on the verge of collapse.
– Car tariffs
Meanwhile, American tariffs on British cars fall to 10% for the first 100,000 vehicles exported to the US.
Mr Trump had set the tariff rate on car exports to the US to 27.5%.
A 10% baseline tariffs on most goods remains in place.
Sir Keir Starmer said the US and UK were “hammering out further details to reduce barriers to trade” on other areas impacted by tariffs.
– Pharmaceuticals
Although British pharmaceuticals are not subject to tariffs from the US, Donald Trump has mulled over the idea of imposing trade levies on global imports from the industry.
The UK will now have “preferential treatment whatever happens in the future” when it comes to pharmaceuticals, Sir Keir has said, suggesting that the UK sector could be safeguarded against future tariffs.
– Agriculture
Both the US and UK’s agriculture sectors will gain new access to one another’s markets under the deal.
UK beef farmers will be allowed access to the US market for the first time, joining group of select countries such as Australia which currently have a similar arrangement.
British farmers have been given a tariff-free quota for 13,000 metric tonnes.
US farmers will in turn be granted new access to the UK, but Sir Keir insisted the Government has stuck to its “red lines” on farming standards.
A tariff on ethanol coming into the UK from the US, which is used to produce beer, will be removed.
– The politics
Sir Keir Starmer appears to have proven wrong his political opponents who called for him to take a harder stance with the US president.
“I know people along the way were urging me to walk away, to descend in a different kind of relationship. We didn’t. We did the hard yards. We stayed in the room. I’m really pleased to say to the workforce here and through them to the country, how important I think this deal is,” he said following the deal.
Lib Dem leader Sir Ed Davey was among those who called for a more muscular approach with the US president.
