TMTPOST -- Keir Starmer, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, on Friday saw the trade deal with the United States will soon to be finalized as he found there isn』t any obstacle in implementing it.
Credit：Xinhua News Agency
「We are at the implementation stage but we』re at the end of the process, and I hope that we can complete it pretty soon now. There』s nothing unexpected in the implementation and so we haven』t got any hiccups or obstacles.」 Starmer said in a Bloomberg interview on Friday.
Starmer said the UK and the U.S. are making good progress and 「in the final stage of implementing」 the deal now. Asked about why the deal hasn』t been done yet, the prime minister relied both sides agreed what they would do in order to implement and 「so we』re working through what we the UK have to do, and what the U.S. is going to do so that we can implement it.」
Starmer touted the deal and called it 「a huge relief to car manufacturing」, which is set to benefit those working in the auto sector, particularly workers for British automaker Jaguar Land Rover. 「This is measured in jobs protected, job created by this deal,」 Starmer added.
Earlier this week, UK Trade Secretary Jonathan Reynolds implied the U.S. is poised to cut auto tariffs for UK on the horizon after his meeting with American Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick. The U.S.was expected to slash its tariffs on British cars 「very soon」 after 「a very significant week」 of talks, Reynolds said on Tuesday.
「Secretary Lutnick and I, and the prime minister, talked specifically about the execution of the automotive tariff reduction … which is part of our deal. I』m hoping to be able to update you all on that very soon,」 said Reynolds.
U.S. President Donald Trump on May 8 unveiled the outlines of a 「historic agreement」 with the UK on trade that remains short on details. That was the first agreement Trump administration has made its first trade deal with the trading partner since his sweeping worldwide reciprocal tariffs were imposed a month earlier.
Trump said the deal will involve billions of dollars of American exports including American beef, ethanol, and other agricultural products, and the U.K. will fast-track goods through its customs processes as the U.S. receives new market access for machinery and chemicals. The Kingdom will reduce or eliminate numerous non-tariff barriers that unfairly discriminated against American products, stated the president.
The baseline reciprocal tariff rate of 10%, which was announced on April 2, a date Trump proclaimed 「Liberation Day」, is still in effect, according to a fact sheet from the White House. That means the Trump administration will keep in place a 10% baseline U.S. tariff on U.K. imports. Meanwhile, the U.S. agreed to cut car tariffs on the U.K. to 10% from 25%.
Under the deal, the first 100,000 vehicles imported into the U.S. by UK car manufacturers each year are subject to the reciprocal rate of 10% and any additional vehicles each year are subject to 25% rates, according to the fact sheet.
The 10 Downing Street highlighted the deal with the U.S. saves thousands of jobs for British car makers and steel industry. It said car export tariffs will reduce from 27.5% to 10% - saving hundreds of millions a year for Jaguar Land Rover alone. This will apply to a quota of 100,000 UK cars, almost the total the UK exported last year.
The U.K. steel industry will no longer face tariffs thanks to the deal, the U.K. government said, adding that Starmer negotiated the 25% auto tariff down to zero, meaning U.K. steelmakers can carry on exporting to the US.
Trump on June 3 signed a proclamation to raised tariffs on steel and aluminum imports into the country to 50% from 25%, taking into effect on June 4. The president believed raising the tariffs will provide greater support to steel and aluminum industries and reduce or eliminate the national security threat. But he granted exemptions from new tariffs for UK imports. Trump in the proclamation said he had decided that it is necessary and appropriate to allow for the implementation of the U.S.-UK Economic Prosperity Deal of May 8, 2025 (EPD), and to accordingly provide different treatment for U.K. exports to U.S.