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UK/US Tariff Pact Gets Tepid Reception

Said one British official: “It’s like Diet Coke – not the real thing”

Published

3 days ago

May 9, 2025

The new trade pact between Britain and America doesn’t significantly alter the import/export dynamics between the two countries, many observers say. Illustration: Vector/iStock

America has agreed to reduce import taxes on a set number of British cars and allow some steel and aluminum into the country tariff-free as part of a new agreement between the two countries, report a variety of news sources, including the BBC (British Broadcasting Corp.).

“The announcement offers relief for key U.K. industries from some of the new tariffs announced by President Donald Trump since entering office in January,” the BBC’s coverage noted. “But it will leave a 10% duty in place on most goods from the U.K. Though hailed by leaders in the two countries as significant, analysts said it did not appear to meaningfully alter the terms of trade between the countries as they stood before the changes introduced by Trump this year.”

That didn’t stop Trump from calling it “a great deal” in the news release on the agreement put out by the White House, adding that the pact “includes billions of dollars of increased market access for American exports, especially in agriculture, dramatically increasing access for American beef, ethanol and virtually all of the products produced by our great farmers.”

In that same statement, Prime Minister Starmer said, “This is going to boost trade between and across our countries. It’s going to not only protect jobs, but create jobs, opening market access.”

But not everyone on either side of the pond was enamored by the deal. For instance, the BBC reports that In the House of Commons, Conservative Shadow Trade Secretary Andrew Griffith dismissed the agreement as “a Diet Coke deal, not the real thing.”

All that notwithstanding, many observers say the U.S./U.K. pact is significant because it shows America is now actively negotiating with those countries impacted by Trump’s tariffs.

“For the average consumer, (the U.K. agreement) won’t be a big deal in itself,” Gary Hufbauer, a nonresident senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, told USA Today. “But it could be a big deal because it signals a reversal of Trump’s extreme tariff agenda.”

Click here for the White House announcement on the pact.