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Donald Trump is planning to announce a new trade pact with the UK on Thursday, people familiar with the talks said, in what could make Britain the first in a series of countries to ease commercial tensions with Washington.
Trump said in a post on his Truth Social platform on Wednesday that a “Big News Conference” was coming “concerning a MAJOR TRADE DEAL WITH REPRESENTATIVES OF A BIG, AND HIGHLY RESPECTED, COUNTRY”.
The expected UK-US deal is one of 17 agreements that the Trump administration has been aiming to sign with its major trading partners as it rows back on the sweeping tariffs on countries around the world announced on April 2.
The US president has been under pressure to deliver some early deals to show investors that he is serious about de-escalating the trade tensions that have caused huge volatility in markets in recent weeks.
But US officials have also insisted that a wide range of countries have made offers to Washington in the hope of clinching deals to put a lid on their trade disputes with Trump.
The scope and details of the pact expected on Thursday with the UK was not clear, including whether further negotiations will be needed to finalise it, and how much relief from US tariffs Britain will get.
The Financial Times reported on Tuesday that Washington and London were close to agreeing a trade pact that would offer lower-tariff quotas for British cars and steel exports, which were hit by 25 per cent levies by Trump earlier this year.
Such tariff relief would help offset the impact of Trump’s “liberation day” levies on UK exports to the US — which were set at the baseline rate of 10 per cent last month.
The New York Times first reported that Thursday’s trade announcement related to the UK.
Last month, Trump triggered a sell-off in global stock markets after hitting almost every US trading partner with “reciprocal” tariffs of up to 50 per cent. However, he then lowered those tariffs to the 10 per cent baseline rate for 90 days to give room for negotiation, contributing to a rebound in equity prices.
Trump administration officials have also been holding talks with multiple countries including Japan, Vietnam, India and the EU, but the fate of those talks is uncertain.
The White House and the British embassy in Washington did not respond to requests for comment.
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