LONDON, Feb 24 (Reuters) – British trade minister Peter Kyle said he was confident the trade deal Britain struck last year with the United States would still stand despite U.S. President Donald Trump’s latest move to apply a 10% global import tariff.
The United States began collecting the temporary new 10% tariff on Tuesday but the Trump administration was working to increase it to 15%, sowing confusion over U.S. tariff policies in the wake of last week’s Supreme Court defeat.
But Kyle said he was confident following engagement with the U.S. administration in recent days that a deal reached between the two countries last year would still stand.
“It was the best deal and it remains the best deal, and the fundamental terms that we had negotiated with the United States remain in place,” Kyle told a parliamentary committee.
Last year, Britain negotiated an ‘Economic Prosperity Deal’ that applied a basic 10% tariff, and preferential terms across a range of industries, including cars, planes and agriculture.
Some elements of that deal have yet to be fully negotiated and implemented.
Kyle said that while he would like a fully comprehensive trade deal with the U.S. that needed both parties to want to move forward at the same pace, and that only pursuing such an agreement could limit opportunities for other smaller deals.
“Let me be very clear again, that we believe that tariffs are a lose, lose… It is not good for American business, it is not good for British business, and is not good for the stability and predictability upon which you build a trading relationship,” he added.
“However, in these moments, we have maintained relations, conversations with counterparts, and we are… seeking other opportunities to move forward at pace.”
(Reporting by Catarina Demony, writing by William James)
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