Star Metro - Trump announces trade agreement with UK

Trump provided no details about the scope of the agreement, which comes a month after he imposed sweeping tariffs on US trading partners on his April 2 "Liberation Day".

"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," the president posted on his Truth Social platform.

"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!"

Trump is set to speak further about the agreement at a news conference in the White House scheduled for 10:00 am (1400 GMT).

The Wall Street Journal described it as a "framework" agreement, suggesting it was far from a comprehensive free trade deal sought by the UK following its departure from the European Union.

- 'National interest' -

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer is also set to give an update on the matter Thursday.

"Talks with the US have been ongoing and you'll hear more from me about that later today," he told a London conference on defence.

"But make no mistake, I will always act in our national interest, for workers, businesses and families, to deliver security and renewal for our country," the PM added.

The Labour leader, who like Trump won power last year, had pushed for a trade deal before the president unleashed his tariffs blitz on Britain and countries worldwide.

The president slapped 10 percent tariffs on imports from around the world, including Britain, but he temporarily froze higher duties on dozens of nations to allow for negotiations.

Trump described Starmer as a tough negotiator following the latter's visit to Washington in February.

Reaching a post-Brexit agreement with the United States has been the Holy Grail for Britain since it exited the European Union at the start of the decade.

London is keen to achieve some type of accord with Washington ahead of a EU-UK summit on May 19 due to reset ties with the 27-nation bloc.

A US-UK deal could prove problematic for the EU, which is struggling to reach an acceptable trade deal of its own with the United States.

Britain this week struck a free-trade agreement with India, its biggest such deal since leaving the EU, after negotiations relaunched in February following US tariff threats.

The EU remains Britain's biggest trading partner, while the United States is the UK's single largest country trading partner.

- Details of deal? -

Trump has for weeks claimed that countries are lining up to strike trade agreements with the US.

Reports have suggested that Washington may reduce certain tariffs on British products in exchange for relief from the UK's digital services tax paid by US tech giants.

London did not retaliate against the Trump's 10-percent tariff imposed on UK imports, nor to the higher 25-percent levies for steel, aluminium and the automotive sector.

"Any deal with the US is likely to be damage limitation rather than an economic boost," Jonathan Portes, professor of economics at King's College London, told AFP.

"It is likely to limit the Trump tariffs, but ... exporters will probably still be facing higher tariffs overall than they were last year."

Deutsche Bank analyst Jim Reid said "given that full trade deals take years to negotiate, this will likely be a framework and it will be interesting to see whether the 10-percent baseline tariff stays as that will provide an important template for negotiations with other countries".

Sky News reported that London has agreed concessions on food and agriculture imports with Washington in exchange for easing export tariffs on the automotive industry.

The Financial Times added that London has sought to avert possible future US tariffs on major industries including pharmaceuticals and aerospace.

The film industry -- a key UK export for the services sector -- is also in Trump's sights.

The Bank of England cut its interest rate by a quarter point to 4.25 percent on Thursday as the tariffs threaten to weaken global economic growth.

burs-bcp/jkb/lth

D.Cameron--SMC