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Trump unveiled the outline of the new trade deal in the Oval Office on Thursday, May 8. The agreement keeps the original 10% baseline tariff that Trump imposed on the UK during his "liberation day" announcement nearly a month ago.
A chart posted by Trump on his social media platform Truth Social claimed that the US-UK deal will bring in $6 billion in tariff revenue and $5 billion in new market access.
"Today's agreement with the UK is the first in a series of agreements on trade that my administration has been negotiating over the past four weeks," Trump said. "With this deal, the UK joins the United States in affirming that reciprocity and fairness is an essential and vital principle of international trade."
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who spoke to the media by telephone, called it a "fantastic, historic day," with the deal announcement coming on the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II in Europe.
"This is going to boost trade between and across our countries," the prime minister said. "It's going to not only protect jobs, but create jobs, opening market access."
The White House claims US exporters will have "unprecedented access" to sell a wide range of products in the UK. The exports include animal feed, beef, cereals, chemicals, ethanol, fruits, machinery, shellfish, soft drinks, textiles, tobacco, and vegetables.
Aircraft parts like Rolls-Royce engines will be allowed into the US duty-free. The deal also aims to expand pharmaceutical trade under a secure supply chain.
Steel and aluminum are also included under a new trading union of tariffs and quotas. The UK will nationalize British Steel and align the company with US protections.
UK automakers will be allowed to export up to 100,000 vehicles to the US at a 10% tariff, significantly lower than the 25% rate on other countries' vehicle imports.
"We do 16 million cars a year, so this is only like 0.6% [of US production], but for the UK auto people, this is tens of thousands of jobs that the President agreed that he would protect for them," Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said.
The UK deal comes as the US economy has worsened under Trump's first four months back in office.
The country's real gross domestic product fell 0.3% in the first quarter of 2025, breaking a three-year growth streak. The contraction was largely caused by a 41.3% spike in imports, as companies and consumers rushed to buy foreign goods before Trump's tariffs took effect.
Many other tariffs remain in place, including a 145% duty on Chinese goods, along with 25% tariffs on aluminum and steel (presumably excluding the UK). There are also 25% duties on Canadian and Mexican imports not covered by the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement.
Trump also continued to claim more trade agreements with other countries are coming after his administration promised to make "90 deals in 90 days."
"We're very close," he said. "We have numerous deals."
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is expected to meet with Chinese trade negotiators in Switzerland on Saturday, May 10.
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