Trump’s US/UK Trade Framework: One Cheer

President Trump today announced a framework for a US-UK trade deal, in a lengthy Oval Office press event. CEI trade policy expert Ryan Young points to one breakthrough in the midst of a few bigger, persistent missed opportunities:

“A US-UK trade agreement has been in the works since the first Trump administration. Unfortunately, today’s agreement will almost certainly leave in place Trump’s 10 percent Liberation Day tariff against nearly all British products, which is barely a month old. A trade agreement worthy of the name should at least get tariffs back to where they were when negotiations started.

“Also missing from the agreement is mutual recognition. This is the principle that if one ally’s regulators certify a product to be safe and effective, than the other ally also does, automatically. This can lower costs and open up new markets for American appliances, cars, and other products. It can also lower pharmaceutical costs in both countries.

“The UK’s agreeing to reduce non-tariff barriers on beef, fuel, and other goods deserves praise. Special interests fight hard for those barriers, making them very difficult to remove. Both the UK and US will benefit.

“Some tariff relief is better than none, and the reduction in non-tariff barriers is a success. Still, today’s announcement is at best incomplete.”

Related analysis: https://cei.org/blog/us-uk-trade-deal-what-should-it-contain/