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Welcome to logoff: The US and the UK today announced a new trade agreement framework, with Trump administration officials promoting the agreement as a simple victory in the president's tariff policy, but the truth is much more complicated.
What's the latest? In principle, the United States and the UK have trade contracts. Nothing has been signed yet, but the framework released on Thursday will reduce tariff barriers in both countries. The UK is exposed to President Donald Trump's 10% global tariffs, the baseline rate it imposed on imports from around the world.
What will change this trade deal? Signing will reduce US tariff barriers for UK cars, steel and other items, making it easier for the US to make beef, ethanol, agricultural products and more.
Is this due to customs duties? The tariffs Trump has imposed on the UK will cut contracts but not eliminate them, but interest in trade contracts has become the topic of discussion since Trump's first term, partly due to the UK's decision to leave the EU.
What is the overall picture? Trump has pledged that tariffs will bring trading partner partners to the negotiation table, leading to transactions that support the US economy through better access to foreign markets. And the administrative authorities portrayed today's deal as evidence that the strategy is working. That's not completely wrong. Both countries were already moving in that direction, but tariffs could have added an incentive to negotiate to the UK.
However, the benefits that US exporters acquire under this agreement should be weighed against the costs. US consumers pay higher taxes on UK goods than they did before Trump's tariffs, and are getting higher taxes on goods from anywhere else in the world.
And so, it's time to log off…
Speaking of the UK, there are fun (and reasonably short) articles about how British towns have transformed abandoned sofas into works of performance art. Thank you for reading. Andrew Procop continues pushing the fort on Friday. See you here on Monday.
