Summary

Media caption,

UK-US trade deal will create jobs - Starmer

  1. JD Vance thanks Trump on America's 'great win'published at 18:30 British Summer Time 8 May

    JD Vance stood near Trump during the US-UK trade deal announcement from the Oval OfficeImage source, Getty Images

    JD Vance, the US Vice-President, stood quietly by Trump's side during the trade deal announcement in the Oval Office, and did not make any remarks, until moments ago on social media.

    "Congrats to the president and the entire trade team on the deal with the UK," Vance wrote on X.

    "A great win for American farmers and manufacturers!"

  2. UK unions and business groups welcome dealpublished at 18:23 British Summer Time 8 May

    Simon Jack
    Business editor

    Most unions and business groups have provisionally welcomed a deal that will mean steel and aluminium tariffs are reduced to zero, and car tariffs are cut from 25% to 10% (up to a quota of 100,000 units).

    That is below the number the 101,000 exported last year, and the 120,000 it was on course to export this year can be seen as setting a potential ceiling on exports.

    The agricultural sector deal is more complex with barriers to US ethanol and beef products lowered.

    It's clear that the US is more closed to UK products, and the UK more open than before Trump came into office.

    And it remains to be seen whether the UK has gained any advantage from being first to agree new terms of trade with its largest single country export market.

  3. A look at some of the details of this trade dealpublished at 18:12 British Summer Time 8 May

    We've now got the White House trade deal 'factsheet' in front of us, so let's have a look at some of the key elements of this agreement between the US and UK:

    • US imposed car export tariffs will reduce from 27.5% to 10%. This applies to a quota of 100,000 UK cars, which is almost the total the UK exported last year
    • The 25% steel tariffs is now down to zero
    • The US will have preferential access to high-quality UK aerospace components
    • For agriculture, there will be "reciprocal market access" on beef which means that UK farmers will be given a quota for 13,000 metric tonnes of beef to be exported to the US, and the US granted the same
    • A tariff on US ethanol entering the UK has been removed
    • The creation of a secure supply chain for pharmaceutical products
    • Otherwise, the reciprocal tariff rate of 10% on the UK, which was announced in March, remains in place
  4. British businesses face higher tariffs now than they did in February - UK's shadow trade secretarypublished at 18:03 British Summer Time 8 May

    Becky Morton
    Political reporter

    Responding to the agreement in the House of Commons, Conservative Shadow Trade Secretary Andrew Griffith says it is "a Diet Coke deal, not the real thing".

    "Any reduction in tariffs is welcome but British businesses are still facing higher tariffs now than they did in February," he tells MPs.

    "This is not the deal we were promised, and the government still has much work to do."

    Griffith also asks for reassurance for the film and TV industry, which Donald Trump has threatened with 100% tariffs.

    In response, Trade Minister Douglas Alexander stresses the deal is "jobs saved, not job done",

    He adds that the UK is continuing to negotiate on the film industry and there is more work to be done.

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  5. Watch: The BBC asks Trump about the trade dealpublished at 17:54 British Summer Time 8 May

    Media caption,

    BBC's Tom Bateman asks Trump in the Oval Office about agricultural trade

  6. Jaguar embraces trade dealpublished at 17:48 British Summer Time 8 May

    Adrian Mardell, Chief Executive Officer of Jaguar Land Rover, told the BBC the company "warmly welcomes" the trade deal.

    He said the deal "secures greater certainty for our sector and the communities it supports".

    "We would like to thank the UK and US Governments for agreeing this deal at pace and look forward to continued engagement over the coming months,” Mardell said.

  7. UK trade minister says deal is a 'first step'published at 17:41 British Summer Time 8 May

    Becky Morton
    Politics reporter

    Trade Minister Douglas Alexander has been updating MPs on the deal in the House of Commons.

    He says the UK’s approach has "brought us to the front of the queue", adding that no other country has been able to secure the same tariff exemptions.

    However, Alexander stresses that the agreement is only a "first step".

    In response to concerns the deal could lower food standards, he says imports of hormone-treated beef and chlorinated chicken will remain illegal.

    He also confirms MPs will get a chance to scrutinise the deal, as well the legislation implementing it.

  8. Analysis

    UK has gone from back of the queue to first in linepublished at 17:33 British Summer Time 8 May

    Anthony Zurcher
    North America correspondent

    In April 2016, President Barack Obama warned the UK that it would move to the "back of the queue" on trade agreements if it chose to exit the European Union.

    Nine years later, the post-Brexit UK is the first out of the gate to sign a new trade deal with Donald Trump.

    We still don’t know the precise details – what has been inked and what is left to be negotiated – but today’s Oval Office event reflects a higher level of affinity between the US and the UK under Trump.

    It’s an economic relationship that was sometimes strained during the administrations of his Democratic predecessors.

    The UK has given Trump an accomplishment that he can tout as the first step toward his envisioned reordering of global trade – perhaps easing the concerns of the US public and American businesses.

    And as a side benefit for this president, he gets to stick it to Obama one more time.

  9. First deal done - but who's next?published at 17:28 British Summer Time 8 May

    Erin Delmore
    BBC World business correspondent

    It's official: The UK is first out of the gate with what both sides are hailing as major progress on trade.

    Perhaps not surprising, given the UK's long-standing "special relationship" with the US - or the relatively balanced trade between the two countries - or the UK's comparatively low "reciprocal tariff" rate assigned by the Trump administration.

    Where imports from China were assigned a combined rate in the triple digits, and goods from Vietnam and Cambodia initially tariffed above 45%, the UK's rate started at and remained at 10%.

    "Many countries want to make a deal, and many countries are very unhappy we happened to choose this one, to be honest with you," President Trump said.

    Now, the jockeying begins over which country is next to announce a deal.

    Administration officials have indicated that India, Japan, South Korea, and Israel are among the frontrunners.

  10. Watch: PM says he took Trump call on trade deal during Arsenal gamepublished at 17:22 British Summer Time 8 May

    Media caption,

    PM says he took Trump call on trade deal during Arsenal game

  11. Trade deal statement to be delivered in Commonspublished at 17:19 British Summer Time 8 May

    We'll be hearing more about the trade deal in a statement in the House of Commons shortly - stick with us and we will bring you the latest on this.

  12. Stocks continue to climb after Trump and Starmer's announcementpublished at 17:18 British Summer Time 8 May

    Trump and Starmer have both concluded their briefings, and US markets are only continuing to go up.

    All major US indexes are growing by more than 1%.

    The S&P 500 is up 1.34%, the Dow is up 1.32% and the NASDAQ up 1.78%.

  13. UK farmers reaction is key concern for Downing Streetpublished at 17:12 British Summer Time 8 May

    Harry Farley
    Political correspondent

    UK farmers gridlock London's Whitehall with their tractors during protests. Photo: February 2025Image source, EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock
    Image caption,

    UK farmers gridlock London's Whitehall with their tractors during February's protests

    The politics around farming has been a particularly sensitive issue for the UK government, with tractor protests clogging up Whitehall in recent months.

    One of the big demands the US wanted from a deal was access to the UK market for American farmers.

    But British farmers are worried this would undercut them if products produced to lower standards are allowed to be imported.

    US Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins said at the Oval Office press conference that this deal "is going to exponentially increase our beef exports".

    The deal includes a tariff free quota of 13,000 metric tonnes of beef. So US farmers will have access to the UK, and UK farmers will have access to the US.

    But the UK government insists there is no reduction in food standards in the deal. So hormone treated beef or chlorinated chicken will not be allowed.

    The reaction of UK farmers will be one government ministers and advisers are watching closely.

  14. We haven't chosen the US over the EU - Starmerpublished at 17:07 British Summer Time 8 May

    More now from Sir Keir Starmer on this trade deal with the US.

    "I genuinely believe that we can have a good relationship and agreement with the US and a good relationship and a good agreement with the EU," he said during a press conference after the trade deal was announced.

    He said the deal showed the importance of "not doing politics as performance but doing politics as the serious art of negotiation".

    On 19 May, the prime minister will host a UK-EU summit, in the hope of securing smoother trading arrangements.

  15. Farage calls deal a 'step in the right direction'published at 17:05 British Summer Time 8 May

    We have some more political reactions now, with Reform UK Leader Nigel Farage saying the US-UK trade deal is a "step in the right direction".

    Speaking to the BBC, Farage says there was more detail to come, but it is a welcome development.

    “We're at the front of the queue with America, not the back of the queue," he says.

    Farage adds that "we're heading in the right direction".

    "On the face of it on cars, America are slight winners on this deal. However tariffs are equalised. The important point is that we are doing stuff, we are making a move."

    Farage says its a "benefit of Brexit we were able to do this".

    "The fine details of this deal will come out in time but this is a big step in the right direction on VE Day.”

  16. Analysis

    Downing Street sees this as a huge diplomatic winpublished at 17:02 British Summer Time 8 May

    Alex Forsyth
    Political correspondent

    Keir Starmer clearly sees this as a moment in which his diplomatic approach to Donald Trump has paid off.

    The Prime Minister took flak from some quarters for not taking a tougher stance when it came to the US President, with some critics asking what he’d achieved by it.

    Today he clearly felt vindicated, as he pointed to this deal as proof that it’s better to "stay in the room" and "fight for your country’s interests" rather "storm off".

    The substance of the deal is yet to be fully analysed, but there’s no doubt Downing Street sees this as a huge diplomatic win.

  17. Starmer tells Jaguar Land Rover workers there will be a 'huge' tariff reductionpublished at 17:00 British Summer Time 8 May

    Keir Starmer speaking with a large group of people behind him.Image source, PA Media

    Following his phone call into the Oval Office, and while US President Donald Trump took questions on the deal from reporters, Keir Starmer was talking at the Jaguar Land Rover plant in the West Midlands.

    "This deal means US tariffs will be cut from 27.5% down to 10% for 100,000 vehicles every year," he tells staff. "That's a huge and important reduction."

    The PM also went on to say that the deal with the US will give "unprecedented market access for British farmers" to the US "without compromising our high standards".

  18. Starmer says tariff cuts are coming soonpublished at 16:58 British Summer Time 8 May

    More now from Keir Starmer, who says "tariff cuts will come into place as soon as possible".

    He says today's announcement is "just the start" and that the UK are "hammering out further details" to reduce barriers to trade with the US, across the board.

  19. Ed Davey calls for full details of deal to be sharedpublished at 16:56 British Summer Time 8 May

    Screen grab of Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey speaking during Prime Minister's Questions in the House of CommonsImage source, PA Media

    Donald Trump has just finished speaking, so let's check in on things back across the pond.

    We've just had a reaction from the Liberal Democrat leader to Sir Keir Starmer's press conference, which came after the US-UK trade deal was announced.

    Ed Davey says that with any trade deal - and especially one with "someone as unreliable as Donald Trump" – the devil will be in the detail.

    "One thing is clear, Trump’s trade tariffs are still hitting key British industries, threatening the livelihoods of people across the UK," he says.

    He urges the Government to publish the "full details of the deal" and to give MPs a vote.

    "It would show complete disrespect to the public if this deal was waved through without giving Parliament a say," he says.

    He says his party have "grave concerns" British farmers will be undercut, and raises children's safety online and tax breaks for US tech barons.

    "These are compounded by Trump’s history of breaking his word and ripping up trade deals on a whim," he adds.

  20. A quick recap of the US-UK trade deal announcementpublished at 16:52 British Summer Time 8 May

    • Trump described the trade deal as a breakthrough with one of the US's "most cherished allies" that will include billions of dollars of exports
    • The 25% tariffs on UK steel and aluminium imported by the US are to be scrapped
    • Tariffs on cars exported to the US will be reduced from 27.5% to 10% on 100,000 UK cars
    • Trump said beef, ethanol and other agricultural products will be included in the deal, with final details to be written up in the coming weeks
    • Starmer phoned in from the UK, saying the agreement would boost trade between both countries and called the deal "a real tribute to the history that we have of working so closely together"
    • US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick said the deal will add $5bn of opportunity to American exporters
    • Lutnick also said the baseline 10% tariff on UK imports will still remain. Rolls Royce engines will be tariff free, he said