Sir Keir Starmer landed an important diplomatic victory when Donald Trump finally confirmed the implementation of the UK-US trade deal.
After “shaking hands” on the deal in a virtual meeting broadcast to the world last month, there had been concerns that Sir Keir still had not got the deal with the US in place.
Mr Trump confirmed the deal was “done” at a brief press conference outdoors at the G7 summit in Canada after the two met. The deal will now be in place by the end of the month and will mean zero tariffs on aerospace.
However, the aim of getting zero tariffs on steel from the UK is “still a work in progress”.
Asked if the UK could be hit by future tariffs, the president said: “The UK is very well protected. You know why? Because I like them. The prime minister has done a really good job. He has done what other people have been talking about for six years and he has done it.”
He joked that Starmer was “slightly more liberal than I” but again confirmed their warm regard for each other.
The president actually dropped the document when he tried to display it to the press, but the prime minister swiftly picked up the papers.
But the lack of a deal had been particularly problematic for British steel with Trump imposing 50 per cent tariffs on the rest of the world, but gave the UK a reprieve, keeping its rate at 25 per cent until at least 9 July.
Under the broad terms of last month’s agreement, the US is set to implement quotas that will effectively eliminate the tariff on British steel and reduce the tariff on UK vehicles to 10 per cent.
In a moment of theatre at the summit, the president emerged with the prime minister, giving a message of relief for thousands whose jobs were reliant on the UK-US trade deal being done.
He said: “We signed it, and it’s done.”
Mr Trump appeared to mistakenly say he had signed a “trade agreement with the European Union” as he stood alongside the British prime minister.
He added: “It’s a fair deal for both. It’ll produce a lot of jobs, a lot of income.”
Sir Keir replied: “Donald, thank you very much. This now implements on car tariffs and aerospace. A really important agreement. And so this is a very good day for both of our countries, a real sign of strength.”
Once implemented, the deal will reduce those tariffs to 10 per cent or possibly remove them altogether. Car exporters such as Jaguar Land Rover hit with 25 per cent tariffs on vehicles exported to the US market will now see them reduced to 10 per cent.
After a number of weeks of worrying delay, President Trump was finally ready to sign the proclamation that puts the deal into action.
Last month, Mr Trump described it as “a big and beautiful deal”, and Sir Keir has been boasting about the UK being the first to get a post-tariffs deal with the president.
The issue of global free trade and tariffs is also due to be discussed formally at the G7 on Tuesday in a full session, with President Trump expected to oppose the other six members as well as Ursula von der Leyen from the EU.
Mr Trump is also expected to oppose his G7 colleagues in debates on Russia and the Middle East.
On the flight over to the summit in Canada, Sir Keir had raised hopes that he could get the deal finalised.
He said: “We’ve shaken on the deal and we’re at the implementing stage now, which doesn’t actually require another shake of the hand, although I am sure there will be many shakes of the hand. I mean, we have reached the agreement and are now implementing it and that is going on.”
Asked if it was “job done”, he added: “Well, we are at the final stages. We had to do various things, they had to do various things, but I am very confident we’re implementing it.”
The UK government will now present a written statement in parliament to put the deal into force.
The agreement leaves the UK as the only country to have finalised a trade deal to deal with the “liberation day” tariffs imposed by Mr Trump, totalling at least 10 per cent around the world.
