UK-US trade deal is welcome sign of peace amid Trump's economic war on America's allies

Persuading Donald Trump to keep the US within the global club of democracies over the next four years is a diplomatic priority

As it was revealed that a trade agreement had been reached between the US and UK, Keir Starmer declared it to be “a fantastic, historic day”, while Donald Trump claimed it would be “a great deal for both countries”.

However, as ever, the devil will be in the detail and “the final details are being written up” with something “very conclusive” only expected in the coming weeks, according to Trump. Suspicious minds may wonder if the premature celebrations are designed to hide a demon or two.

Nonetheless, Starmer’s main aim has been to try to protect the UK economy from Trump’s unfair tariffs. And, on that front, he’s had some success.

Trump has agreed to remove the 25 per cent tariff on UK steel and aluminium and to cut the rate on most car exports from 27.5 to 10 per cent for the first 100,000 vehicles. The UK has agreed to "reciprocal market access on beef" and to remove its tariff on US ethanol, among other measures.

Keir Starmer hailed the US-UK trade deal during a visit to a Jaguar Land Rover factory in Solihull (Picture: Alberto Pezzali/ WPA pool) | Getty Images

‘We’ve just been shafted’

Some will view this as capitulating to an unjustified economic attack by Trump that will only invite the US President to try other strong-arm tactics. Farmers, who Starmer has angered over changes to inheritance tax, will also be poring over the deal to assess the Prime Minister’s claim that UK food standards have not been compromised to allow in cheap US food.

READ MORE: Keir Starmer and Donald Trump hail ‘historic day’ as UK and US finally agree trade deal

Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch, who reposted a graphic from Trump’s Truth Social account that summarised the benefits of the deal for the US, said: “We cut our tariffs – America tripled theirs. Keir Starmer called this ‘historic’. It’s not historic, we’ve just been shafted!” Trump’s graphic showed UK tariffs on US goods falling from 5.1 to 1.8 per cent and US tariffs on UK goods rising from 3.4 to 10 per cent.

However, despite these concerns, this does represent something of a peace deal in Trump’s trade war on America’s allies. For that reason, it may help keep the US inside the global club of democracies. And, ultimately, over the four years of Trump’s presidency, this aim may be more important than almost anything else.

READ MORE: What the US trade deal means for Scotland and the UK