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The UK and the US are close to agreeing a trade pact that would cushion the impact of Donald Trump‘s ‘liberation day’ tariffs by granting lower-tariff quotas for UK steel and car exports, the Financial Times on Tuesday said. Citing officials in London and Washington, the FT said the deal, set to be signed this week, is due to include quotas that spare some UK exports from the full brunt of the additional 25% tariffs that Trump levied on steel and car imports in February and March. UK trade negotiators returned to Washington this week for the final stages of negotiations, which one senior UK official told the FT were continuing ‘at speed’, cautioning that disagreements remain over pharmaceuticals. As well as offering quotas for UK exports, the UK is also hoping to secure reductions in the sector specific 25% tariffs that Trump has levied on steel and autos. The UK’s ‘offers’ include concessions to Washington on the digital services tax levied on international tech companies, cuts on tariffs imposed on US auto exports, and a reduction of tariffs on US agricultural products, the FT said. However, the UK government has said it will not accept US food production standards, 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 plank of its impending ‘reset’ with Brussels, the FT said. If successful, the US-UK agreement would follow the agreement of a full-blown Free Trade Agreement between India and the UK which was announced on Tuesday. Copyright 2025 Alliance News Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
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