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Donald Trump plans to announce a new trade deal with the UK on Thursday, people familiar with the talks said on the grounds that the UK could first be created in a series of countries to ease commercial tensions with Washington.
In a post on his true social platform on Wednesday, Trump said the “large press conference” would “contain a major trade deal with representatives of a large, highly respected country.”
The expected UK-US deal is one of 17 agreements the Trump administration aims to sign with its major trading partners as the Trump administration returns to massive tariffs around the world announced on April 2.
The US president has been under pressure to offer several early trading to show investors he is serious about ruled out the trade tensions that have caused significant volatility in the market in recent weeks.
However, US officials also claim that a wide range of countries have made an offer to Washington in hopes of wanting to cover up the trade dispute with Trump.
The scope and details of the agreement expected in the UK on Thursday were not clear whether further negotiations would be needed to finalize it, or how much relief it would get from UK tariffs.
The Financial Times reported on Tuesday that Washington and London are approaching a trade agreement that provides a low cut allocation of UK automobile and steel exports, which Trump suffered a 25% tax earlier this year.
Such tariff relief will help offset the impact of Trump’s “liberation date” taxation on exports to the UK to the US. This was set at a baseline rate of 10% last month.
The New York Times first reported that Thursday’s trade announcement was linked to the UK.
Last month, Trump sparked a sale in the global stock market after hitting almost all US trading partners with “mutual” tariffs of up to 50%. However, he later reduced these tariffs to a baseline rate of 10% for 90 days, giving them room for negotiation, contributing to a rebound in the stock price.
Trump administration officials have also held talks with several countries, including Japan, Vietnam, India and the EU, but the fate of those talks is uncertain.
The White House in Washington and the British Embassy did not respond to requests for comment.
