President Donald Trump unveiled the framework for a trade agreement with the United Kingdom on Thursday, marking the first such accord with any nation since the White House suspended some of its far-reaching “Liberation Day” tariffs last month.
The Trump administration will adjust 25% tariffs on steel and aluminum, and will lower auto tariffs from 25% to 10% on the first 100,000 British vehicles sent to the U.S., Trump said.
The agreement left in place 10% tariffs that the U.S. slapped last month on imported goods from nearly all foreign countries.
In exchange, the U.K. will ease trade barriers targeting a set of products, including ethanol, beef and machinery, among other products, Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick said. That additional market access amounts to $5 billion worth of trade, the White House said.
The U.S. also secured a $10 billion purchase of Boeing airplane parts and a “secure supply chain” for pharmaceuticals, according to information shared by Trump on social media on Thursday.
The U.K. will fast-track U.S. imports through customs inspection, Trump said.
The U.S.-U.K. agreement left some details to be worked out later, setting the two countries on a path toward a wider deal, Trump said.
Addressing reports at the Oval Office on Thursday, Trump touted the agreement.
“This deal is working out for both countries,” Trump said, noting the “final details are being written up.”
In remarks made over a speaker phone on Trump’s desk, U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer said negotiations between the two sides moved toward an agreement in recent weeks.
“This is a really important deal,” Starmer said. “There are no two countries that are closer than our two countries.”
Starmer acknowledged some details still need to be “ironed out.”
The roughly $68 billion in imported goods from the U.K. last year accounted for about 2% of U.S. imported goods, U.S. data showed. The U.S. exported nearly $80 billion worth of products to the U.K. last year, which accounted for almost 4% of U.S. goods exports.
President Donald Trump makes a trade announcement with Britain in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, May 8, 2025.
Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images
Dozens of nations face potential so-called “reciprocal tariffs,” but the U.K. is not among them, since the U.K. buys more than it sells to the U.S. The White House paused the reciprocal tariffs until July, as it seeks to strike trade agreements with dozens of countries.
Testifying before a House subcommittee on Tuesday, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the Trump administration had commenced negotiations with 17 of the top 18 U.S. trade partners, excluding China. Those countries account for the vast majority of U.S. foreign trade, Bessent said.
Bessent is set to travel to Geneva, Switzerland, for initial trade negotiations with China on Saturday. The U.S. last month imposed 145% tariffs on Chinese goods, prompting 125% retaliatory tariffs on U.S. products.
On Thursday, Trump said the negotiations between the U.S. and China would be “very substantive,” voicing a willingness to lower the tariffs on Chinese goods.
“It couldn’t go higher,” Trump said. “You know it’s coming down.”
Trump’s tariff escalation last month roiled markets and triggered recession warnings on Wall Street.
Speaking at a press conference in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday, Fed Chair Jerome Powell warned Trump’s tariff policy could cause higher inflation and an economic slowdown.
“If the large increase in tariffs that have been announced are sustained, they’re likely to generate a rise in inflation and a slowdown of economic growth,” Powell said Wednesday.
Still, key indicators suggest the economy remains in “solid shape”, Powell said.
