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Donald Trump is poised to approve a key part of the US-UK trade agreement, which offers lower tariffs for UK automobile exports in exchange for improved access to the UK for U.S. beef and ethanol producers.
The “automobiles for agriculture” deal comes more than a month after President Trump and Kielstarmer signed a five-page economic prosperity agreement at a broadcasted elliptical office press conference on May 8.
British officials close to discussions said they are still negotiating a section of the deal that both sides said would provide zero-ter-five access to the US for British steelmakers.
The priorities are under political pressure at home at the speed of the agreement being implemented, facing claims from the UK bioethanol industry, while at the same time there is a risk that large-scale zero-rif quota offers to US ethanol producers will go out of business.
British officials hope that the deal could be signed by the end of this week. “The declaration is sitting on the president’s desk,” he said, shaking his complaints about the pace of implementation.
“Compared to other negotiations and agreements, this is done with lightning strikes,” they added.
Earlier on Thursday morning, U.S. Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick said the deal would be active “in the coming days.”
He writes to X:
“We agree to implement a historic trade agreement as soon as possible, starting with an agreed allocation of UK cars and US beef and ethanol, and will be active in the next few days at the same time.”
The UK is the only country to sign a contract with the US after Trump imposed a global “mutual tariff” on April 2nd.
The US administration is currently locked in negotiations with other countries after enacting a 90-day moratorium, which is scheduled to expire on July 9th. Tariffs are subject to legal challenges in the United States.
Under the terms of the UK US agreement, Trump has agreed to reduce the 27.5% tariff to 10% on the vehicles of the first 100,000 vehicles shipped from the UK in a move widely welcomed by auto groups such as Jaguar Land Rover and Bentley.
In return, the UK provided the US with a zero-rif allocation of 13,000 tonnes of beef and 1.4 billion litres of ethanol. British officials have confirmed that legal measures are in place to operate quotas at the same time as reducing tariffs on US cars.
The boss of two UK bioethanol plants warned last month that a 1.4 billion liter allocation of cheap US ethanol, equivalent to the overall annual demand in the UK, would force the plant to close.
Two plants – Ensas at Wilton in Teesside and Vivergo in Salt End near Hull – are producing bioethanol used in UK standard E10 gasoline, which had already suffered losses before the US was hit.
The UK’s Bureau of Business and Trade said three weeks ago it was “cooperating closely” with businesses to “work closely” and “consider the available options,” but so far no solution has emerged.
British steelmakers are still awaiting the results of their speeches to determine the size of their quota and the conditions under which British producers can benefit from the trade. The industry said it does not expect a contract until the end of the early months.
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Tata Steel, the UK’s largest producer, warns that the origins of some products could result in them being excluded from tariff-free transactions with the US.
After closing two explosive furnaces in Port Talbot last year, Tata imports steel from sister plants in India and Dutch, processed in the UK before shipping it to customers.
However, this could violate US import regulations requiring all steel to be “melted and poured” in countries where it is imported. Other UK producers are expected to be excluded from the transaction if the terms apply.
“The US administration said it wants to recognize the specific circumstances of our industry,” said British Steel, an industry trade organisation.
