Keir Starmer paraded a trade deal with Donald Trump today – but it does not include promised protection for the UK steel industry.
The PM put on an old pals act with the US president at the G7 in Canada as they showed off a text implementing the broad agreement struck last month.
However, although punitive 25 per cent tariffs on car exports are being lowered to 10 per cent, the steel and aluminium industry still faces 25 per cent charges.
That is despite the original pact committing to remove the duties altogether. UK sources said the issue was ‘complicated’, suggesting the US did not want to create a loophole for imports from China.
They pointed out that talks would continue, and the rest of the world is facing a 50 per cent tariff on steel instead of 25 per cent.
But standing alongside Sir Keir, Mr Trump said the deal was ‘done’, and refused to make any firm commitment to further progress on steel levies.
The agreement with the US had already come under fire in some quarters for ‘shafting’ the UK, with America openly boasting that it had managed to achieve higher tariffs than before and get more access to markets.
The US-UK trade deal has been signed and is ‘done’, US President Donald Trump has said after holding crunch talks with Sir Keir Starmer at the G7 summit
Starmer said the completed deal ‘implements on car tariffs and aerospace’, and described the agreement as a ‘sign of strength’ between Britain and America
Trump said the relationship with Britain was ‘just fantastic,’ as he waved, and briefly dropped, a document which he said he had just signed
The photo opportunity threatened to descend into farce as Mr Trump dropped the deal text, leaving Sir Keir scrambling on the floor to pick it up.
He then mistakenly announcing the deal was with the EU, rather than the UK.
Mr Trump added: ‘It’s a fair deal for both. It’ll produce a lot of jobs, a lot of income.’
The PM said the completed deal ‘implements on car tariffs and aerospace’, and described the agreement as a ‘sign of strength’ between Britain and America, with Trump saying it’s ‘fair’ for both nations.
He said: ‘Donald, thank you very much. This now implements on car tariffs and aerospace.
‘A really important agreement. And so this is a very good day for both of our countries, a real sign of strength.’
Under the terms of the deal, first announced in the White House in early May, UK carmakers face a 10 per cent rate when selling vehicles to the US rather than 25 per cent.
In return, Britain is lifting tariffs on American companies’ shipments of products such as beef and ethanol.
The Department for Business and Trade also said the US has committed to removing tariffs on UK aerospace goods such as engines and aircraft parts.
But asked if steel tariffs would be set to zero for the UK, the US President replied: ‘We’re gonna let you have that information in little while.’
The UK has also not obtained any guarantee that the crucial pharma industry will not be hit with tariffs, and there are claims Sir Keir has conceded the NHS will pay billions of pounds more for drugs.
Asked whether Britain would be shielded from future tariffs, Mr Trump said the UK was protected ‘because I like them’.
‘The UK is very well protected, you know why? Because I like them. That’s their ultimate protection,’ he said.
The PM told the US President: ‘Donald, thank you very much… A really important agreement. And so this is a very good day for both of our countries, a real sign of strength.’
Touring broadcast studios this morning, Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander said work will go on in the coming ‘days, weeks and months’ to get US tariffs on UK steel down further.
She told BBC Breakfast: ‘Obviously, we’ve still got some more work to do.
‘We’re working through some technical detail around steel because we want to bring that 25 per cent tariff that applies at the moment obviously down further.
‘But I think the fact that we’re in this unique position, we’re the only country in the world to have already got a trade agreement with the US.
‘We are working on getting that implemented. We’ve made some progress on car manufacturing, which is going to be really important for companies such as Jaguar Land Rover based in Solihull.
‘Also on aerospace, as you will have heard, really important for companies like Rolls-Royce, and we’re determined to go further and we’ll be working on those issues around steel in the coming days, weeks and months.’
In Canada, Sir Keir was also insistent that the AUKUS nuclear submarine deal between the UK, US and Australia would go ahead – despite Mr Trump ordering a review.
He said it was proceeding despite Washington launching a review into the pact, which is worth around £176billion and believed to be aimed at countering China.
He said: ‘We’re proceeding with that, it’s a really important deal to both of us.
‘I think the president is doing a review, we did a review when we came into government, and that makes good sense to me.’
Mr Trump left the summit early due to the situation in the Middle East, following a dinner with heads of state.
That was seen as a snub to Volodymyr Zelensky, as they were due to hold talks today. Sir Keir had also been pushing for an agreement over fresh sanctions on Russia, which have not appeared.
Downing Street declined to comment on Mr Trump’s early exit.
The agreement with the US had already come under fire in some quarters for ‘shafting’ the UK, with America openly boasting that it had managed to achieve higher tariffs than before and get more access to markets
Overall trade in goods between the US and UK is largely balanced, with £59.3billion exported to the US and £57.1billion imported
No10 dismissed suggestions that the get-together had been a ‘Trump-handling’ exercise to prove the summit against the US president’s unpredictability as leaders seek to put on a united front in the face of heightened global instability.
Earlier, Mr Trump suggested Russia should not have been kicked out of the former G8 following its annexation of Crimea in 2014.
Standing alongside Sir Keir, Mr Trump said sanctions were ‘not that easy’ and would cost Washington ‘a tremendous amount of money’.
Asked whether Washington supported European efforts to impose further measures, he told reporters ahead of a bilateral meeting with the UK Prime Minister: ‘Well Europe is saying that, but they haven’t done it yet.
‘Let’s see them do it first.’
Asked why he wanted to wait to impose sanctions, Mr Trump said: ‘Because I’m waiting to see whether or not a deal is done… and don’t forget, you know, sanctions cost us a lot of money.’
