Key points
- Deal may include lower tariffs on steel and autos: UK official says
- Reported agreement comes ahead of planned China-US trade talks in Geneva
- Trump’s tariffs raise recession fears, impact global supply chains
ISLAMABAD: US President Donald Trump is expected to announce a trade deal between the United States and Britain on Thursday, the New York Times reported on Wednesday, citing three people familiar with the plans.
Trump posted on Truth Social that he would hold an Oval Office news conference at 10am EDT (1400 GMT) on Thursday about a “major trade deal with representatives of a big, and highly respected, country,” using all capitalised letters.
A White House spokesperson declined to comment on the Times report, according to Reuters.
Sweeping tariffs
Trump imposed sweeping tariffs on US trading partners last month but temporarily froze most of them to allow for the negotiation of trade deals.
He has been claiming for weeks that countries were lining up to strike trade agreements with the United States.
Framework for agreement
The Times said it was not clear whether a US trade deal with Britain had been finalised or if the two countries would announce a framework for an agreement that would be subject to further negotiation.
Britian earlier this week struck a free trade agreement with India, its biggest such deal since leaving the European Union, after negotiations relaunched in February following US tariff threats.
Britain has sought to bolster trade ties across the world since it left the EU at the start of the decade under Brexit, a need that became more pressing after the United States unleashed tariffs that risk causing weaker economic growth.
