9 May 2025, 14:43 | Updated: 11 May 2025, 21:02

By James Meadway

Desperate for a win, Prime Minister Keir Starmer has rushed through a hastily-prepared half-deal with the US that offers some respite to car manufacturers and steelworkers, but little beyond that.

Tariff cuts for the auto industry will be welcomed, in particular, with the US as this country’s biggest export market – even if the tariff-free sales are capped at 100,000 vehicles a year, some way short of the 120,000 vehicles UK manufacturers sold into the US last year.

We have avoided some of the worst threats to UK food. But in general, the immediate impacts of this threadbare deal will be limited. Neither growth nor inflation will be much affected.

Whatever the government here may try to claim, Britain remains overall in a worse position than before Trump’s bombshell “Liberation Day” announcement in April. Whilst Britain has cut its overall tariffs on US exports into this country by 3.3 percentage points, the US has increased its overall tariffs by 6.6 percentage........

© LBC