The United States and Britain are expected to announce a trade deal on Thursday aimed at reducing the impact of President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs, potentially delivering a political victory for Prime Minister Keir Starmer.Trump stated on Wednesday that he would announce a “major trade deal” with a “big, highly respected country,” without naming the nation. A US official later confirmed that the country in question was Britain, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss the talks before the official announcement, news agency AP reported.Starmer’s office indicated that the prime minister would provide an “update” on the US trade talks later in the day. “As you know, talks with the US have been ongoing and you’ll hear more from me about that later today,” Starmer said at a defence conference in London.Under Trump, the US imposed a 10% tax on imports from Britain, along with 25% tariffs on UK cars, steel, and aluminum, aimed at increasing domestic factory jobs. A key goal for British negotiators has been to reduce or remove the US import tax on British cars and steel.While a trade deal with the UK would be symbolically significant and offer relief for British exporters, it would not address Trump’s main concern of reducing the trade deficits that led him to impose tariffs on various countries.The US ran an $11.9 billion trade surplus in goods with the UK last year, according to the Census Bureau. The $68 billion in goods imported from the UK accounted for only 2% of all US imports.Trump has been eager to strike a deal with the UK since it voted in 2016 to leave the European Union. As recently as Tuesday, however, Trump seemed unaware of the potential terms of the deal when asked about it.“They’re offering us concessions?” Trump asked reporters. “I hope so… They do want to make a deal very badly.”Trump has previously suggested that his leverage in the talks comes from US consumers, but also hinted that the UK would start purchasing more American-made goods.“I think that the United Kingdom, like every other country, they want to, they want to be, go shopping in the United States of America,” he said.
