THE US and Britain are negotiating a bilateral trade agreement, US president Donald Trump told a joint news conference with UK prime minister Keir Starmer on Thursday (27), saying such a deal could help avert US tariffs.
"We're going to have a great trade agreement," Trump said. "We're going to end up with a very good trade agreement for both countries, and we're working on that as we speak."
Starmer said the two countries had begun work on a new economic deal, with advanced technology at its core, to strengthen the already strong trading relationship.
Trump said the outlines of a trade agreement between the two allies could be agreed "very shortly," saying his treasury secretary Scott Bessent, vice president JD Vance, commerce secretary Howard Lutnick and national security adviser Mike Waltz would lead the efforts.
He said he expected to get a trade deal done "rather quickly, as quickly as it can be done."
Asked if Starmer had convinced him to skip threatened reciprocal tariffs, Trump said, "He tried," lauding Starmer's negotiating skills.
"He was working really hard at lunch," he said. "I think we could very well end up with a real trade deal where the tariffs wouldn't be necessary. We'll see."
British chancellor Rachel Reeves said on Wednesday (26) she was confident that US-UK trade and investment would not be derailed by Trump's threat to retaliate against what he sees as barriers to US exports.
"The last time President Trump was in the White House, trade and investment flows between our two countries increased, and I've got every confidence that that can happen again," she told Reuters in an interview on the sidelines of a Group of 20 finance chiefs' meeting in South Africa.
Britain and the US worked on negotiating a free trade agreement during Trump's first term, but did not quite complete that work. When Democratic president Joe Biden took office in 2021, he ended work on that relatively far progressed effort.
Imports and exports of goods and services between Britain and the US totaled $317 billion in 2023, the US Bureau of Economic Analysis says, making Britain the fifth-biggest US trade partner after Canada, Mexico, China and Germany.
The US is Britain's single biggest national trade partner, although the UK trades far more with the 27 members of the European Union as a bloc.
Trump said earlier this month that he thought something could be "worked out" with Britain on the threat of tariffs while he sounded more committed to imposing tariffs on EU countries.
King Charles invites Trump for state visit
Trump accepted an invitation from King Charles to visit Britain, making him the first elected political leader in modern times to be hosted for two state visits by a British monarch.
Starmer handed Trump a letter from Charles in front of reporters at the White House ahead of formal meetings expected to discuss Ukraine and global security as well as bilateral issues.
Trump immediately opened and read the letter, jokingly checking that it bore the King's signature, which he then described as "beautiful" and held up for the cameras to see.
FILE PHOTO: Donald Trump (second from L) and Melania Trump (L) with King Charles (then Prince Charles) and Camilla at Clarence House in central London on December 3, 2019. (Photo by VICTORIA JONES/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)
"This is really special. This has never happened before. This is unprecedented," Starmer told Trump, before gently pressing the president for an answer to the invitation.
"The answer is yes," Trump responded. He told Starmer he would attend with first lady Melania Trump. "We look forward to being there and honoring the king ... Your country is a fantastic country, and it'll be our honor to be there."
No date for the visit was announced.
Still images of Trump holding up the letter showed Charles had ended it with the words: "In doing so, working together, I know we will further enhance the special relationship between our two countries, of which we are both so proud."
The late Queen Elizabeth welcomed Trump for a three-day state visit in June 2019 during his first term in office, during which he attended an opulent state banquet and a private lunch with the sovereign, as well as having tea with Charles, who was then heir.
That visit already put Trump in a select group of US presidents, as only Barack Obama and George W. Bush were afforded official state visits to Britain during Elizabeth's record 70 years on the throne.
It would also turn out to be the last of the more than 110 she hosted during her reign before her death in September 2022.
The visit was not the only occasion when Trump met Elizabeth. He was also invited to tea at Windsor Castle during a trip to Britain in 2018, when he was widely seen to have broken royal protocol by failing to bow to the queen and then walking in front of her as they inspected a military guard.
Both his visits to Britain also attracted large protests, with his 2018 trip costing police more than £14 million as 10,000 officers were deployed from all over Britain.
(Reuters)
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