Description: US President Donald Trump and UK’s Prime Minister Keir Starmer have agreed a bilateral breakthrough by concluding the general terms agreement which according to trade officials from both sides would open the markets and bring closer economic cooperation. The trade agreement undertook the reduction of tariffs for several UK exports to the US such as car exports, aerospace products, steel products and various goods from the food industry. The UK would also reduce its average tariff percentage to the US to 1.8%, which would affect products such as wine, olive oil and sports equipment. The US would maintain the blanket 10% tariffs on all UK exports to the US which US President Donald Trump explained as a baseline for further negotiations with the UK and other countries as well. The UK market is the fourth largest export market for the US which precipitated analysts to label the agreement as more of a symbolic gesture between century – old allies rather than an agreement which would have serious impact on both economies.
Impact: The general terms agreement with the UK represents the first concrete result since US President Donald Trump weaponized tariffs and conditioned countries to readjust their national strategic aspirations towards the US. The terms of the agreement are evidently in favor of the US economic ambitions as the UK has effectively agreed on considerable concessions to eliminate tariffs obstacles between the two countries. By maintaining the blanket 10% tariffs on UK goods, the US is continuing to leverage its advantageous positions in the trade negotiations and depicts a stiffer future resistance towards negotiations with other countries. Even though UK’s political opposition reacted negatively to the agreement, the concessions made by Prime Minister Starmer are also aimed at alleviating bilateral strategic pressure since the US reconstructed its foreign policy methods with Trump at the helm.