The US and UK have provided details of a trade agreement that will reduce and, in some cases, remove tariffs on a number of sectors, with Prime Minister Keir Starmer hailing the deal as "historic".
According to an 8 May announcement from the UK government, the agreement will see US tariffs on automotives fall from 27.5% to 10%, with the reduction applying to a quota of 100,000 cars.
Tariffs on UK steel will drop from 25% to zero, while the levy on ethanol arriving in the UK from the US will also be removed. The two countries have also agreed to new reciprocal market access for beef, with UK farmers set to have a quota of 13,000 metric tonnes.
"This historic deal delivers for British business and British workers protecting thousands of British jobs in key sectors including car manufacturing and steel," Starmer says in a statement.
US President Donald Trump is also positive about the impact of the agreement. "The deal includes billions of dollars of increased market access for American exports, especially in agriculture, dramatically increasing access for American beef, ethanol, and virtually all of the products produced by our great farmers," he says.
The White House says the pact will create a $5bn export opportunity for US farmers, ranchers and producers.
Although the deal has been welcomed by the US and UK, it is not all-encompassing. A 10% tariff on a range of other UK goods is still in effect, with the UK acknowledging that work will continue on sectors including pharmaceuticals and other reciprocal tariffs.
The US-UK agreement comes in the same week that the UK and India signed a major trade deal that will slash tariffs on goods such as cosmetics, salmon and whisky. Both announcements have come at a time when international trade has been roiled by geopolitical tensions and the US decision to impose sweeping tariffs on economies large and small.
Although Trump has announced a 90-day pause on his tariff plans, a 10% "baseline" levy remains in place, while China has been slapped with an effective 145% tariff on its goods.
Work to be done
Looking ahead, the UK says that the US has "agreed that the UK will get preferential treatment in any further tariffs imposed as part of Section 232 investigations". The US government uses Section 232 investigations to assess how the import of certain products impacts the country's national security.
The UK also says its deal with the US "opens the way to a future UK-US technology partnership through which our science-rich nations will collaborate in key areas of advanced technology", such as aerospace and space, biotech, life sciences, nuclear fusion and quantum computing.
Gareth Stace, director general of UK Steel, welcomed the deal, saying it was a significant outcome for the sector.
"This deal will offer major relief to the UK steel sector at a time when it is battling numerous other challenges, not least global overcapacity, high energy costs and weak demand," he says.
Mike Hawes, chief executive of the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders, has also welcomed the news, describing the agreement to cut tariffs on UK car exports to the US as "great news for the industry and consumers".
"The application of these tariffs was a severe and immediate threat to UK automotive exporters so this deal will provide much-needed relief, allowing both the industry and those that work in it to approach the future more positively," Hawes adds.
Meanwhile, Shevaun Haviland, director general of the British Chambers of Commerce, says the deal will be met with a "huge sigh of relief" by many British businesses.
However, Haviland notes: "This must not be the end of the process; we must continue to push the argument for free and fair trade across all economic sectors and that tariffs are a lose-lose position."