According to Prime Minister Keir starmer, the UK-US tariff deal agreed yesterday (8th May) will help save “thousands” of jobs.
The historic agreement between the UK and Donald Trump’s administration will reduce car export tariffs to 10% from 27,5%. This alone has prevented thousands of workers from being laid off.
After Trump’s initial announcement of tariffs, the UK steel and aluminum industries no longer have to pay any duties.
The Department of Business and Trade has said that negotiations are ongoing.
The UK Digital Services Tax of 2% on US Companies, which is imposed on major US firms like Meta and Google, remains unchanged.
Jonathan Reynolds, the UK’s Business Secretary, said: “Without the breakthrough we were able to make today on these sectoral Tariffs, thousands of people in the UK could have lost their jobs very quickly, and the economic harm to the UK from that point would have been significant.”
British Steel announced yesterday that it would resume recruitment after the government intervened in order to keep the blast furnaces operating. The removal of the tariff will be a further boost for the sector.
Starmer, speaking from the Jaguar Land Rover plant in West Midlands praised the historic deal.
He said, “This is a job saved, a job won, but it’s not completing the task. Our teams will continue working to build on this contract.”
As part of the Plan for Change, my government is committed to going further and faster in strengthening the UK economy. We will put more money into working people’s pocket.
Adrian Mardell said that the deal will “secure greater security” for the UK auto industry which employs about 250,000 people.
The US has agreed to give the UK preferential treatment when it comes to negotiations regarding pharmaceuticals and other tariffs. This, according the UK government, could lead further collaborations in the science and technology sectors.
This agreement is a result of a free trade deal that was signed earlier this week by the UK and India . Employees moving between India and the UK will only pay social security contributions once.
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