According to a report by The Wall Street Journal, the United States and the UK announced a new trade agreement on local time of August 8. This is also the first agreement reached after Trump launched a broad tariff war against global trade partners.

However, the BBC reported that the trade agreement still needs to be approved by the British Parliament to take effect. The British government also stated that the legal framework for tariff reduction has not yet been formally signed, and the specific details of the agreement are still to be further negotiated.

Trump announced the general framework of the trade agreement between the US and the UK in the Oval Office of the White House that day. He said that the agreement would expand market access for US exports, especially in the agricultural sector. American beef, ethanol, and "almost all the products produced by our great farmers" will gain greater export space. Despite claiming that the agreement had been reached, Trump said that the specific details are still pending, "the final details are being sorted out. We will clarify everything within the next few weeks."

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer expressed through a phone call that the timing of reaching the agreement with the US could not be more clever, which can promote economic and trade relations between the two countries, open markets, and create job opportunities.

As introduced, the UK made certain concessions in the negotiations. According to the statement released by the White House, British steel and aluminum exports will be exempt from the 25% tariff; at the same time, regarding British car exports, the import tax rate for the first 100,000 cars annually will be reduced from 25% to 10%. As a quid pro quo, the UK agreed to reduce the import tariff on some American beef from 20% to zero and lower the import tariff on American ethanol products. However, the 10% global tariff previously imposed by the US on many countries will still apply to most British goods. A British government official stated that they will continue to negotiate with the US side to cancel the 10% benchmark tariff implemented by the US.

US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick announced at the White House that new market access for American products such as ethanol, beef, and machinery equipment has been successfully opened, which is expected to create $5 billion worth of trade opportunities for US exporters. He also revealed that British Airways will soon announce a Boeing aircraft procurement plan worth $10 billion. As part of the agreement, the US side has agreed to exempt tariffs on aircraft engines and parts produced by Rolls-Royce. Affected by this favorable news, Boeing's stock price rose by 3% in early trading on the same day.

However, some analysts pointed out that the agreement actually did not break through the trade framework between the two countries before the policy adjustment by the Trump administration earlier this year.

Holger Schmieding, chief economist at Berenberg Bank in Germany, commented that the agreement brought hope of containing the damage caused by Trump's trade war, otherwise "American consumers and businesses would face serious impacts." However, he noted that the agreement had limited impact on the US economy because the scale of US imports from the UK was only one-ninth of that from the EU.

Trump wrote earlier on Truth Social: "The agreement reached with the UK is a comprehensive and complete agreement that will solidify the relationship between the US and the UK and lay a foundation for many years to come." He wrote: "Given our long history and alliance, it is a great honor to have the UK as our first announcement. There are many other agreements under serious negotiation, stay tuned!"

Kemi Badenoch, leader of the Conservative Party in the UK, criticized the agreement as being "about reducing taxes in the UK and increasing taxes in the US," directly accusing the UK of being "deceived." The Liberal Democrats called for a parliamentary vote on the agreement, with party leader Ed Davey emphasizing: "We must carefully consider every detail when reaching an agreement with an unpredictable partner like Trump."

Tom Bradshaw, chairman of the National Farmers' Union in the UK, expressed deep concern: "Our biggest concern is that the agricultural sector is being singled out as an object of policy adjustments, exchanging reduced tariffs on agricultural products for development benefits in other industries, which will place disproportionate economic pressure on agriculture."

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Original source: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7502353067929633330/

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