Cautious welcome for US trade deal as details emerge

Major automotive manufacturers have welcomed the UK-US trade deal, with Aston Martin and Rolls Royce share prices increasing, but many businesses are still cautious about exporting.

In a trade deal with the US tariffs have been removed on British steel and aluminium, reducing them to zero and tariffs on cars will be cut from 27.5% to 10% for 100,000 vehicles every year.

UK Ambassador to the USA, Lord Mandelson, said: “This historic deal delivers for British and American businesses and workers. It is set to protect thousands of jobs in key sectors including car manufacturing and steel – and opens the way to a future technology partnership between our two great countries.”

JLR’s CEO Adrian Mardell has also backed the deal, saying it gives “greater certainty” for the sector and the 250,000 jobs it supports in Liverpool, the Midlands and a wier UK supply chain.

Speaking at a JLR factory to announce the trade deal, Sir Keir Starmer said: “This is a deal that will protect British businesses and save thousands of jobs in Britain, really important, skilled, well paid jobs. It will remove tariffs on British steel and aluminium, reducing them to zero. It will provide vital assurances for our life sciences sector, so important to our economy, and grant unprecedented market access for British farmers without compromising our high standards.

“In politics, what matters sometimes is who you have in your mind’s eye when you’re making these deals. Who do you have in your mind’s eye when you’re taking decisions? But what I took away from here last time [I was here] was you and the brilliant work that you do, and had you in my mind’s eye as we did that”.

Adrian Mardell, CEO of JLR said: “The car industry is vital to the UK’s economic prosperity, sustaining 250,000 jobs. We warmly welcome this deal which secures greater certainty for our sector and the communities it supports.

“We would like to thank the UK and US Governments for agreeing this deal at pace and look forward to continued engagement over the coming months.”

However, Chris Fletcher, Policy Director at Greater Manchester Chamber of Commerce, always with an eye on the politics of such events, said: “With the style and manner that the announcement was made it is obvious that a great many details are still to emerge about the US/UK Trade Announcement made by President Trump in the Oval Office and the Prime Minister at an automotive plant in the West Midlands.

“It appears that tariffs are still in place but will be reduced on a number of products, though not it seems below the global baseline of 10% and there will be new opportunities across a range of other goods. With both the main protagonists acknowledging that final details are being signed off it does seem that this will be the first substantive post-tariff trade agreement to be agreed though how beneficial remains to be seen. We will follow up and watch out for more details as they emerge and assess what impact they will have on the wider economy that has seen turmoil over the last few months.

“The economy is still finely balanced and more activity will be needed from government to support UK businesses and help deliver the growth that is expected of them.”

British exporters expect to break into a growing list of European countries and emerging markets in the coming months, a new UK Trade Barometer has revealed.

That indicates the UK economy could benefit from the trade deal with the United States.

However, a bigger long-term priority is getting more businesses outside of London to trade internationally at all, the survey of more than 2,000 companies nationwide indicates.

 The Trade Barometer – from Manchester Airport Group and the Growing Together Alliance – showed businesses in the North and Midlands are much less optimistic about growing global sales in Q2 of 2025 than those in London.

Overall, just under half of those asked – 46% – said they were already exporting. Of those, 63% increased sales to an existing market in Q1 of 2025. Nearly half of all existing exporters (47%) started trading in a new territory.

MAG owns Manchester, London Stansted and East Midlands Airports, as well as CAVU, a digital global travel services firm. The Growing Together Alliance is a group of six business bodies covering the major city-regions of the UK.

The quarterly UK Trade Barometer paints a picture of the underlying trading habits of British businesses, asking them about sales to existing and new markets in Q1, and their expectations for Q2.

Researchers surveyed a sample of senior decision-makers from more than 2,000 firms, representative of UK regions, industrial sectors and business size.

Andrew Macmillan, MAG Chief Strategy Officer, said: “There is clear evidence that cities and regions with strong concentrations of exporting businesses are more productive and have higher living standards.

“Therefore, encouraging more companies across the UK to start trading in a diverse range of overseas markets will hold the key to the Government achieving its long-term growth mission.”