What the US-UK trade deal means for YOU: Beef, chicken, beer, cars, steel and jobs are all affected by detail of Trump-Starmer agreement
The UK government has been desperate for a trade deal to help mitigate the impact of US President Donald Trump‘s punitive tariff regime.
As the first country to sign a deal of this sort with the US, Sir Keir Starmer called it a ‘fantastic, historic’ day, as he joined the Oval Office news conference via phone.
However, the Tories have accused him of ‘shafting Britain’ and allowing the UK to be steamrolled by Trump’s team.
But what will this agreement mean for the average Briton?
The results of the deal are likely to be far-reaching, saving jobs in the beleaguered car and steel industries but offering US farmers far greater access to UK markets on meat and ethanol.
While much of the detail is yet to be formally announced, we do already know some of the bare bones. Here’s what we know so far:
The new US-UK trade deal helps overturn or reduce many of the tariffs Mr Trump unleashed on so-called ‘Liberation Day’ on April 2, 2025
Cars
On so-called ‘Liberation Day’, President Trump placed punitive tariffs of 27.5 per cent on UK car exports, throwing the UK car industry into disarray.
That figure led to Jaguar Land Rover actually temporarily halting shipments to the US, although they resumed deliveries earlier this week.
Under the terms of the new UK-US trade deal, the tariffs on vehicles have been slashed to 10 per cent – a figure that applies to the first 100,000 vehicles exported from the UK to the US each year.
Howard Lutnick, the US secretary of state for commerce, said Rolls Royce engines and aeroplane parts can be exported from the UK to the US tariff free.
New cars parked at Tilbury Docks in Essex on March 27. American tariffs on British cars fall to 10 per cent for the first 100,000 vehicles exported to the US under the new deal
That offers some relief to the British automotive industry and should help to save jobs in the West Midlands where both Jaguar Land Rover and Aston Martin have factories.
In total, 101,000 British cars were sent to the States last year, meaning the cap should not have a huge impact.
However, while the new tariffs are considerably lower than the previous figure of 27.5 per cent, they remain significantly higher than the previous tariff of 2.5% that was in effect prior to US president Donald Trump’s ‘Liberation Day’ .
Speaking in the 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,’ the BBC reported.
‘This is not the deal we were promised, and the government still has much work to do.’
Speaking to US president Donald Trump from JLR’s facility in the West Midlands, the UK prime minister said: ‘This is going to boost trade between and across our countries, it’s not only going to protect jobs but also create jobs, opening market access.’
Sir Keir Starmer addressing staff at a Jaguar Land Rover car manufacturing plant in the West Midlands following the confirmation of his trade deal with US President Donald Trump
There were fears of job losses at Jaguar Land Rover’s Solihull factory (pictured), where 9,000 workers faced uncertainty following Donald’s Trump’s imposition of import taxes – which have been cut from 27.5 to 10 per cent under the terms of the new agreement
Range Rover sports utility vehicles in the paint shop at Jaguar’s manufacturing plant in Solihull in 2023
Meat
The new reciprocal market access on beef is being presented as a win-win for both countries, with UK farmers being given a quota for 13,000 metric tonnes.
US secretary of agriculture Brooke Rollins said at the Oval Office press conference that this deal ‘is going to exponentially increase our beef exports’.
She added: ‘And to be very clear, American beef is the safest, the best quality, and the crown jewel of American agriculture for the world.’
That means that more US fine-quality beef is likely to make it to British homes and restaurants.
However, Sir Keir insisted there will be no weakening of UK food standards on imports.
As a result, chlorinated chicken and growth hormone-treated beef – which has been banned in Britain and the EU since the 1980s – will not be gracing the shelves of UK supermarkets.
US secretary of agriculture Brooke Rollins said the new trade deal ‘is going to exponentially increase our beef exports’ to the UK
However, Sir Keir insisted there will be no weakening of UK food standards on imports, meaning US-style chlorinated chickens will remain illegal in the UK
Likewise growth hormone-treated beef – which has been banned in Britain and the EU since the 1980s – will not be gracing the shelves of UK supermarkets
Steel
UK steel has had US tariffs reduced from 25 per cent to zero, representing a huge win for the industry.
Less than a month ago ministers recalled parliament to approve emergency legislation after Scunthorpe Steelworks’ Chinese owners Jingye announced their intention to let the plant’s blast furnaces run cold.
With up to 2,700 steelworker’s facing job losses, the government took control of the site and is now looking to hire more than 180 new employees, the Guardian reported.
British Steel has already begun recruiting for 165 roles in Scunthorpe and a further 17 at its operations in Teesside and Skinningrove.
The new tariff deal on steel is likely to be a further boost to the industry and help safeguard jobs at the Scunthorpe facility.
A steel worker at one of the blast furnaces at the British Steel site in Scunthorpe on April 16
Less than a month ago ministers recalled parliament to approve emergency legislation after Scunthorpe Steelworks’ Chinese owners Jingye announced their intention to let the plant’s blast furnaces run cold
The UK steel industry has had US tariffs reduced from 25 per cent to zero, which should provide a huge boost to the industry
Ethanol
In exchange for lowering some of President Trump’s more punitive tariffs, the UK has removed the tariff on ethanol coming into the UK from the US to zero.
Ethanol is widely used in our manufacturing sector – as well as to make beer.
Alongside with allowing more US beef into the UK, the removal of the tariff on ethanol has sparked concern from farmers.
National Farmers’ Union (NFU) President Tom Bradshaw said the agricultural sector has ‘been singled out to shoulder the heavy burden of the removal of tariffs for other industries in the economy’.
He added: ‘The inclusion of a significant volume of bioethanol in the deal raises concerns for British arable farmers.’
The NFU believes that liberalising our ethanol market may lead to the loss of a profitable outlet for our arable growers.
Biofuels are made from a variety of renewable biological materials, including plants, algae, and animal waste.
These materials are converted into fuel through various processes, such as fermentation and chemical reaction.
They are extremely important financially for the UK’s crops sector, since farmers are both able to sell it as fuel and also produce up to one million tons of animal feed as a by-product.
‘They’ll also be fast tracking American goods through their customs process, so our exports go to a very, very quick form of approval, and there won’t be any red tape,’ Trump said.
An ethanol production plant near Ravenna, Nebraska. Under the terms of the new trade deal, the US will be able to import ethanol from the UK with zero tariffs
– Other tariffs
A 10 per cent baseline tariff on most goods, described by Mr Trump as a ‘reciprocal’ tariff, remains in place.
Sir Keir Starmer said the US and UK were ‘hammering out further details to reduce barriers to trade’ in other areas impacted by tariffs.
Talks over lowering the reciprocal tariffs are understood to be ongoing, but there is no deadline on how long they may continue.
The UK will also get preferential treatment in any further tariffs on national security grounds, Mr Trump announced as part of his drive to protect US business.
President Donald Trump with (from (left), Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, Vice President JD Vance, and Britain’s ambassador to the US Peter Mandelson at the White House yesterday
– Pharmaceuticals
Although British pharmaceuticals are not subject to tariffs from the US, Mr Trump has mulled over the idea of imposing trade levies on global imports from the industry.
Pending the results of compliance investigations, the countries have pledged to ‘negotiate significantly preferential treatment outcomes on pharmaceuticals and pharmaceutical ingredients’.
The UK also promised it would endeavour to ‘improve the overall environment’ for pharmaceutical companies based there.
Prime Minister Keir Starme during a phone conversation with US President Donald Trump from a Jaguar Land Rover manufacturing plant in the West Midlands yesterday
– Agriculture
Both the US and UK’s agriculture sectors will gain new access to one another’s markets under the deal.
UK beef farmers will be allowed access to the US market for the first time, joining a group of select countries such as Australia which have a similar arrangement.
British farmers have been given a tariff-free quota for 13,000 metric tonnes.
US farmers will, in turn, be granted new access to the UK, but Sir Keir insisted the Government had stuck to its ‘red lines’ on farming standards.
Additionally, the UK will remove tariffs on 1.4 billion litres of ethanol, used to produce beer, which comes from the US.
– What non-tariff measures are in the deal?
Under the plan, the US and UK committed to working toward economic security by coordinating to ‘address non-market policies of third countries’.
They also pledged closer cooperation on keeping investments, exports and tech vendors secure by building on already closely aligned trade and investment security measures.
The US and UK have agreed to negotiate ‘ambitious’ provisions for digital trades, a move which could impact services like online banking, financial tech, insurance or other industries that rely heavily on digital infrastructure.
Additionally, both sides agreed to better cooperate in tackling duty tax evasions on imports and exports.
And what’s not in the new agreement…
The NHS
UK business secretary Jonathon Reynolds said there is: ‘Nothing in the agreement in relation to the NHS.’
According to UK business secretary Jonathon Reynolds, the NHS was not part of the new UK-US trade deal
Ending regulations on Big Tech
The trade deal also does not provide the US with exemptions on two pieces of legislation US-based tech firms sought to water down.
In April 2020, the government introduced a new two per cent tax on the revenues of search engines, social media services and online marketplaces which derive value from UK users.
There is an allowance of £25million, which means a group’s first £25million of revenues derived from UK users will not be subject to digital services tax.
The new trade agreement between the US and the UK does not include any concessions on this new levy.
The new trade agreement also does not include any provisions relating to the Online Safety Act, a new set of laws intended to protect children and adults online.
Speaking to reporters in Westminster, Jonathan Reynolds said: ‘Just to be absolutely clear about what is not in this agreement. There is nothing in this agreement in relation to online harms or the Online Safety Act. There’s nothing in this agreement in relation to digital services tax.’
On the Government’s efforts to reduce or even remove the 10% tariffs Mr Trump has imposed on most goods entering the US, Mr Reynolds added: ‘The process by which we will continue the negotiation with the US about those wider tariff lines and the 10% reciprocal tariff continues. There is no deadline for that.’
Mr Reynolds also said: ‘I think it is also vindication of the cool, calm, engaged approach we’ve taken to the US, even though this has been the challenging agenda for every country in the world.’
There was speculation that the digital services tax, a levy on social media firms like Meta (pictured CEO Mark Zuckerberg) which derive value from UK users, would have to end as a condition of a US-UK trade deal – so it’s non-inclusion represents something of a coup for Sir Keir and his team
The film industry
The UK remains in negotiations with the US over film industry tariffs, trade minister Douglas Alexander has said.
Conservative shadow business secretary Andrew Griffith asked: ‘What about the film and television industry who were being threatened earlier this week with a 100% tariff? Can the minister assure us now that there will be no such imposition?
‘What’s the price of this deal? Will the minister set out clearly to this House the trade-offs that have been made?’
Mr Griffith later asked: ‘How does – not just words but actions – how does this deal defend our beef, lamb, pork and poultry farmers?’
Responding, Mr Alexander said in relation to the film industry: ‘We do continue to negotiate on the UK’s behalf. The film sector is a key part of the UK’s world-class creative industries.’
On agriculture and food, Mr Alexander said the UK had ‘maintained those critical animal welfare standards, so all of the speculation in relation to chlorinated chicken or hormone-injected beef have turned out to be unfounded’.
– The politics
The Prime Minister appears to have defied his political opponents who called for him to take a harder stance with the president.
‘I know people along the way were urging me to walk away, to descend in a different kind of relationship. We didn’t. We did the hard yards. We stayed in the room. I’m really pleased to say to the workforce here and through them to the country, how important I think this deal is,’ Sir Keir said following the deal.
Lib Dem leader Sir Ed Davey was among those who called for a more muscular approach with Mr Trump.
– How much is exported to the US?
Last year, the UK exported £59 billion of goods to the US, which made up about 16% of all British exports during the period, according to the ONS.
Most of those are now subject to a minimum US import tax of 10 per cent, after Mr Trump announced sweeping global tariffs in April.
Meanwhile, about £13billion of those have an even higher tariff rate of 25 per cent, mainly made up of nearly £10billion-worth of exports from the car industry.
A further £3billion of products containing steel and aluminium are also subject to the higher tariff rate.
Britain also exported £10.8billion of chemicals to the US – about one-fifth of total chemicals exports – which were mostly made up of medicines and pharmaceutical products.
– What about imports?
Machinery and transport equipment continued to be the main goods imports from the US last year, with the UK importing £20.1 billion of machinery and transport equipment.
The UK also imported £15.3billion-worth of fuel from the US last year, a nearly one-fifth decrease compared with 2023.
Crude oil was the main fuel import, at £8.7billion.
And the UK imported £8billion of chemicals last year, about 12 per cent of all chemical imports.
About half of that was made up of medicines and pharmaceuticals, like vitamins, antibiotics and vaccines.
