Trump Hails the ‘Reciprocity and Fairness’ of the U.S.-U.K. Trade Agreement

A trade agreement between the United States and the United Kingdom has been announced.

President Donald Trump invited press into the Oval Office on Thursday, May 8, where he was joined by Peter Mandelson, the U.K. ambassador to the U.S. Sir Keir Starmer, the U.K. Prime Minister, phoned into the meeting, calling the announcement of the agreement a “fantastic, historic day.” [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”]

While the exact details of the agreement have yet to be fine-tuned, Trump said the deal is a “conclusive one.”

He went on to say the agreement affirms that “reciprocity and fairness is an essential and vital principle of international trade.”

The Trump Administration confirmed that the deal will open up market access to American exports including ethanol, agriculture, and machinery.

“They’ll also be fast tracking American goods through their customs process, so our exports go to a very, very quick form of approval. There won’t be any red tape,” Trump said of the U.K. partnership.

U.S. Secretary of Commerce, Howard Lutnick, explained how the agreement will encompass the auto industry. “The U.K. could send 100,000 cars into the U.S. and only pay a 10% tariff,” he said.

Rolls-Royce engines and “those kind of plane parts” can be exported from the U.K. to the U.S. tariff-free, he added.

The U.K. government has since further explained that the new trade deal with the U.S. will cut tariffs on U.K. cars from 27.5% to 10%, and eliminates tariffs on steel and aluminum.

There is a quota laid out in the agreement—100,000 U.K. vehicles that can be imported to the U.S. at a 10% tariff.

In return, per the U.K. government, the deal establishes a new reciprocal market access on beef and removes the tariff on ethanol coming into the U.K. from the U.S.

“This is going to exponentially increase our beef exports. And to be very clear, American beef is the safest, the best quality, and the crown jewel of American agriculture for the world,” said U.S. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins.

The trade agreement comes after Trump placed a 10% tariff on the U.K. earlier this year. Many countries were then subjected to higher charges when Trump announced his so-called “reciprocal tariffs” in April. The U.K. was not subjected to these higher tariffs as the U.S. already has a trade surplus with them. The U.K. buys more from the U.S. than it sells to it. The reciprocal tariffs were then put on pause for 90 days. However, prior to this trade agreement, the U.K. was still subjected to the 25% tariff on all steel, aluminium, cars, and car parts imported to the U.S.

During the meeting, Starmer noted the timing of the news and how it falls on the 80th anniversary of VE Day, which marks the end of World War II in Europe. Of the U.S.-U.K. collaboration, Starmer added: “[It’s] a real tribute to the history that we have of working so closely together.”

In a post shared on his social media platform, Truth Social, earlier in the day, President Donald Trump had teased a “full and comprehensive” agreement between the two nations, adding: “Because of our long time history and allegiance together, it is a great honor to have the United Kingdom as our FIRST announcement.” Trump said more agreements are in “serious stages of negotiation” and will follow.

Markets have so far responded positively to news of the agreement, with Wall Street opening higher on Thursday.

British lawmakers have also been reacting to the news. U.K. Chancellor Rachel Reeves offered an optimistic outlook, highlighting the “incredibly strong trade and investment link between the U.K. and the U.S.” She went on to say that a trade agreement with the U.S. is unlikely to impact any ongoing talks between the U.K. and the E.U. “We shouldn’t choose between countries. The U.K. is an open trading economy. Open for trade, open for business, open for investment,” she told reporters.

But Jonathan Haskel, an economics professor and a former member of the Bank of England’s monetary policy committee, advised caution ahead of anything being signed.

“People should remember that there’s a very big difference between trade deals and trade agreements,” he said on BBC Radio’s Today programme. “Trade deals are limited and short-term and partial, just covering a few items. Trade agreements are broad based and long term.”

Trump-Starmer: A brief history of their relationship

Since the start of Trump’s second term as President, the two leaders appear to have established a positive relationship, despite uncertainty over tariffs and conflicting approaches to the war in Ukraine.

Trump and Starmer met in the Oval Office of the White House in February, soon after Trump returned for his second term, and the meeting was widely seen as a good start to their relationship as co-world leaders.

The U.K. Prime Minister delivered a letter from King Charles III addressed to the President, inviting Trump for a state visit, which was gratefully accepted. Trump also called Starmer “a very tough negotiator,” as the two discussed tariffs.

“In a moment of real danger around the world, this relationship matters more than ever,” Starmer said of U.K.-U.S. relations, adding that when the two nations work together, “we win and we get things done.”

Before Starmer became Prime Minister in 2024, he had a more difficult relationship with Trump. In January 2016, Starmer openly criticized the President, saying: “We are united in condemning the comments of Donald Trump on issues such as Mexican immigrants, Muslims and women,” adding that he felt comments made by Trump “repugnant.”

In June 2018, Starmer also said: “Humanity and dignity. Two words not understood by President Trump.” in response to a video showing migrant detention centers in the U.S. where parents and children appeared to have been separated.

In October 2024, Trump’s campaign team filed an official complaint accusing Starmer’s Labour Party of “blatant foreign interference,” amid the 2024 U.S. presidential election.

Starmer replied to these accusations, downplaying them. He said: “They’re doing it in their spare time. They’re doing it as volunteers,” referring to Labour Party members who were volunteering their time on behalf of Trump’s opponent, Kamala Harris.

Ahead of Starmer’s visit to the White House in February, Trump also remarked that the British Prime Minister, alongside French President Emmanuel Macron, “haven’t done anything,” to stop the war in Ukraine.