The administration has agreed on a trade deal with the United Kingdom:
President Trump confirmed early Thursday that the US has reached a major trade deal with Britain, saying the agreement marked a “very big and exciting day” for the key allies.
“The agreement with the United Kingdom is a full and comprehensive one that will cement the relationship between the United States and the United Kingdom for many years to come,” Trump said in a Truth Social post.
“Because of our long time history and allegiance together, it is a great honor to have the United Kingdom as our FIRST announcement. Many other deals, which are in serious stages of negotiation, to follow!”
Details on the agreement will come out later today, and we may have more to say at that time. For now, it is good to see trade agreements being finalized. Let’s hope that, as Trump says, this is the first of many. The New York Times is reporting that deals are also close with Israel and India, which means that it might be true.
So I don’t think (and never have thought) that a “trade war” is going to materialize. Trump has been low-key about the need on our part to make trade deals:
[Treasury Secretary Scott] Bessent, during an interview with Fox News “Ingraham Angle” host Laura Ingraham, described the president’s seemingly ambivalent attitude toward negotiating new trade deals as the “strategic uncertainty” that is necessary to ensure the US gets “the best deal possible.”
Of course. That makes perfect sense. Nevertheless, I hope agreements will be reached in rapid succession, so that the focus can shift to where it really belongs: on China. And not on dolls, about which Trump riffed the other day, but on strategically vital materials and products. The issue in our relationship with China is not primarily economic, it is primarily national security. And that issue needs to be addressed.
The Post reports that the first direct trade talks with China will take place next week in Switzerland.
