President Trump and UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced a loose trade deal yesterday, the US’ first with another country since Trump slapped tariffs on nearly every nation on Earth. What we know for sure: Trump’s call to Starmer came right in the middle of the Arsenal match Wednesday night, but not a lot else. The US’ blanket 10% tariff on UK imports still stands. But we did learn that: - The UK will be allowed to send 100,000 cars to the US under that 10% levy, instead of the proposed 27.5%. This will predominantly benefit luxury carmakers like Range Rover and Aston Martin.
- For context, roughly 96,000 vehicles entered the US from the UK last year, while the US brought in about 3 million vehicles from Mexico, the largest supplier of US auto imports, according to Bloomberg.
Tariff-free(ish): Rolls-Royce engines and plane parts can enter the US free from tariffs, and an undisclosed UK airline will purchase $10 billion worth of Boeing planes. The British government said that US tariffs on steel and aluminum imports from the UK would fall to zero, but the White House’s statement was more vague about duties on the materials, without committing to any hard cuts. There’s a lot still up in the air The UK said it would open up access for the US to sell beef, poultry, ethanol, and cereal, but whether or not that will be extended to other sectors, like pharmaceutical companies, is unclear. There are also no details about advanced tech like quantum computing or the UK’s digital services tax, which have huge implications for tech companies. Big picture: The details that investors want to make sense of the chaotic tariffs likely won’t come for months. But even then, this deal could only have a small impact on the US economy, as the UK is not even in the US’ top five biggest trading partners and represented just 2.9% of American trade last quarter.—MM |