Are rumours of US-UK mini-trade deals a sign of things to come?

These were brought in during one of the perennial spats between the EU and the US about state aid to their respective aerospace industries, and specifically to Airbus and Boeing, respectively. Both the Europeans and the Americans have been found “guilty” of such prohibited subsidies under World Trade Organisation rules. The US slapped tariffs on EU-sourced cheese, olives and Scotch whisky, while the EU retaliated by taxing imports of sugar, fitness machines and Boeing products. The aircraft dispute was only the latest in a long running low-intensity trade war between America and Europe over strategic industries such as aerospace and steel, and in which politically sensitive targets from swing constituencies or symbolic national targets such as French champagne and American Harley-Davidson motorbikes were the weapons of choice.