President Donald Trump struck a trade deal with the United Kingdom Thursday that he says will benefit “super luxury” cars and open the door to billions of dollars’ worth of increased market access for American exports.
As part of the agreement, Trump said the U.S. will maintain a 10% baseline tariff on imports from the U.K. Asked if future deals with other countries could also result in tariffs staying at 10%, rather than the higher baseline tariffs Trump threatened April 2 before pausing most for 90 days, he said no.
“The template of 10 is probably the lowest,” Trump said.
While Trump said today’s deal “opens up a tremendous market” for the U.S. and U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer characterized Thursday as a “really fantastic, historic day,” some are skeptical about the extent of the announcement’s real impact.
University of Michigan economist Justin Wolfers wouldn’t consider it a major trade deal, noting the U.K. only accounts for about 3% of U.S. trade, meaning 97% is still “up in the air.”
Rather than focusing on carve-outs for one country, Wolfers said another way of reading today is confirmation that the baseline 10% tariff is likely the lowest rate Trump will impose on most countries’ imports.
So, what does that mean for American consumers?
“We all had this hope that at the end of the 90-day pause, he’d come back and have a bit of a think about it, and that’s off the table,” Wolfers told USA TODAY. “They should care about this because this is confirmation that the price of every imported good will be up by 10% or as far as the eye can see.”
Lower tariffs on cars imported from the UK
U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick confirmed Thursday that while the 10% baseline tariff will remain in effect, it will lower the 25% tariff on cars imported from the U.K. Trump previously imposed to 10% for the first 100,000 vehicles imported each year. Any additional vehicles imported will still be subject to the 25% rate.
While all the details of the agreement have yet to be finalized, it appears to be good news for Rolls-Royce, who manufacture cars in Britain. Trump also singled out Aston Martin cars, the ride James Bond uses in the iconic spy movies, while speaking to reporters Wednesday.
“James Bond has nothing to worry about, that I can tell you,” Trump said in the Oval Office.
That means more luxury automobiles could be imported to the U.S. under the new agreement, but Trump said he will “rarely” make the same decision in negotiations with other countries when it comes to other foreign cars.
