United States President Donald Trump is set to announce a trade deal with the United Kingdom on Thursday, US media have reported, in what would be the first such agreement since he rolled out his sweeping tariffs.
The reports come after Trump on Wednesday teased the announcement of a deal with an unnamed country on social media.
“Big News Conference tomorrow morning at 10:00 A.M., The Oval Office, concerning a MAJOR TRADE DEAL WITH REPRESENTATIVES OF A BIG, AND HIGHLY RESPECTED, COUNTRY,” Trump said in a post on his Truth Social platform. “THE FIRST OF MANY!!!”
The New York Times, which reported the news along with The Wall Street Journal, Politico and CNN, said that it was not clear whether the agreement had been finalised.
Investors have been anxiously waiting for signs of an easing of Trump’s trade war amid fears that prolonged uncertainty over tariffs could inflict serious damage to the global economy.
The International Monetary Fund last month lowered its global growth forecast for 2025 from 3.3 percent to 2.8 percent amid Trump’s trade salvoes.
On Tuesday, US and Chinese officials confirmed that they would hold their first round of trade talks in Switzerland this weekend, raising hopes of a breakthrough in the de facto mutual trade embargo between the world’s two largest economies.
The UK was spared from Trump’s “reciprocal” tariffs announced against dozens of countries last month, but its exports have been subject to a 10 percent “baseline” duty since April 9.
The US and UK did 314.6 billion pounds ($419bn) worth of trade in goods and services in 2024, an increase of 3.9 percent from the previous year, according to the UK’s Department for Business and Trade.
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer earlier this week announced the finalisation of a “landmark” trade deal with India that he said would add 4.8 billion pounds ($6.4bn) a year to the economy.
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