This trade deal with the UK is not good. I refuse to believe this is a final deal but only a first step forward. I believe Trump announced this to increase his approval rating and increase the stock market and nothing more. I expect the terms to change overtime.
First of all, the 10% tariff on all UK goods and services is still in place, and that is the giant elephant in the room. That needs to go, but Trump won’t let it go. Until those tariffs are gone, any trade deal Trump does is totally meaningless. Don’t be fooled by what Trump says at all.
Moreover, the trade deal’s terms are very bad. The food exports aren’t anything to go home about. In fact, most of the US agricultural exports would probably be denied because British food standards are higher than American foods standard. But the steel concession we gave to the UK is very bad. The UK is very smart in trying to revamp its steel industry. It got rid of Chinese control over some of its steel companies as it nationalized them last month. And US-made steel is weak and needs tariff protection, as past Presidents have done this. Joe Biden blocked the Nippon Steel-US Steel merger last year when Japan wanted to acquire US Steel. The US has had import quotas and tariffs on foreign steel since Reagan to protect American competitiveness. So why give the UK that concession? What was Trump thinking? Was he even thinking at all? This just proves to me that Trump isn’t a strategic thinker.
If this is a final deal, then shame on the UK for taking a bad deal. I would just make a deal with the EU and forget about the US until Trump leaves if the terms and conditions don’t change. But let Trump and his supporters make this a so-called victory. It isn’t.