The United Kingdom closes to the United States commercial pact with lower car and steel fee quotas

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The United Kingdom and the United States are close to a commercial pact that would hide the impact of Donald Trump’s “Liberation Day” rates by granting low mariferous quotas for steel exports and vehicles in the United Kingdom, according to London and Washington officials.

The agreement, which must be signed this week, will include quotas that save some UK exports from the additional 25 percent rates that Trump charged for steel and cars imports in February and March.

United Kingdom commercial negotiators returned to Washington this week for the final stages of negotiations, which a senior official in the United Kingdom said he continued “at speed”, warning that disagreements remain on pharmaceuticals.

In addition to offering fees for exports in the United Kingdom, the United Kingdom also hopes to obtain reductions in the specific sector of 25 percent of the rates Trump has collected in steel and autos.

UK “Offers” include concessions in Washington on digital services tax charged to international technology companies, cut The rates imposed on automobile exports in the United States and a reduction in rates for agricultural products in the United States.

However, the United Kingdom government has said that it will not accept the standards of production of American foods, such as chlorine washed chicken and hormone-treated beef, which would make it impossible to conclude a so-called “veterinary agreement” with the EU, a key plate of its imminent “reset” with Brussels.

The United Kingdom Agreement is one of the 17 agreements that the Trump administration has aimed at signing with its main commercial partners, as it goes back to the wide rates imposed on countries around the world on April 2.

United States Treasury Secretary, Scott Bessent, told a congressional audience on Tuesday that some of these offers could be announced “perhaps as soon as this week”, adding that several countries had made “good offers” without providing details.

If you succeed, the United States-United States Agreement would follow the agreement of a complete free trade agreement between India and the United Kingdom that was announced on Tuesday.

The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Sir Keir Starmer warned of potentially “devastating” effects on their sectors.

Mike Hawes, CEO of the Motor and Traders Manufacturers Society, has warned that the new North -Americans’ rates had a “serious, significant and immediate” impact in the upper end of the sector. Luxury brands like Bentley, Jaguar Land Rover and Aston Martin are very dependent on exports to the United States.

The United States is the second largest export market in the United Kingdom after the EU, with more than 100,000 cars sent last year, worth more than 7.5 million pounds, according to The SMMT.

A high executive of the automotive industry welcomed the news of possible low-tariffs for exports of vehicles in the United Kingdom, but warned that the key objective should reduce the 25 percent rate rate.

“The dues are complex to operate and limit the trade inherently,” the executive added. “The most important thing is to cut off 25 percent of the rate, because above 10 percent, it is not sustainable.”

UK Steel, The Trade Association, has warned May Trump’s rates drown exports for an industry that is already under pressure from a global metal glut.

The United States represented about 165,000 tonnes of British steel exports by 2023, worth about £ 400 million, about 8 percent of the total for value. Exports from the United Kingdom to the United States have almost halved since 2017 when Trump imposed rates during his first administration.

Two people who are aware of the negotiations said that the agreement was maintained for disagreements over the pharmaceutical sector.

Last month, Trump administration launched national security probes to pharmaceuticals and microchips that could open the way to drug rates: a UK export to the United States value 6.6 million £ 2024.

Britain seeks to avoid the worst of future fare impacts, according to officials in the United Kingdom, who described the quotas offered by the United States as “generous”. A second officer in the United Kingdom was more cautious, describing the agreement as “limited”.