WASHINGTON, May 8: Donald Trump will announce a trade deal with the United Kingdom on Thursday, US media has reported, after the president touted a “major” upcoming agreement on social media.
The New York Times and Politico reported that Trump was set to agree to a deal with Britain, citing multiple people familiar with the plans.
Trump had written earlier on Wednesday the “major trade deal” would be announced with a “big, and highly respected country.”
He said he would announce the deal at a 10:00 am (1400 GMT) news conference in the Oval Office at the White House, and he touted the deal as the “first of many.”
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.
The Times said it was not clear whether a US trade deal with Britain had been finalized or if the two countries would announce a framework for an agreement that would be subject to further negotiation.
Britain 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. – TVS
