US financial firms pledge investment into the UK before Trump visit
US financial firms have announced investments in the UK worth £1.25 billion before Donald Trump’s state visit next week.
Citi Group has confirmed it will invest £1.1 billion across its UK operations, while S&P Global will put £4 million into their Manchester offices.
PayPal has confirmed a £150 million investment in product innovations and growth and Bank of America will create up to 1,000 new jobs in Belfast in its first operation in Northern Ireland.
Alongside the new investment announcements, companies are committing to ramp up commercial activity between the US and UK in the coming years.
Blackrock is allocating £7 billion to the UK market over five years, while Rothesay is planning to double its investment in the US with another £7 billion in the coming years.
The investment and capital commitments line up some £20 billion trade between the two countries – with some £8 billion to come to the UK and £12 billion to go to the US, the Department for Business and Trade said.
Business and Trade Secretary Peter Kyle said: “These investments reflect the strength of our enduring ‘golden corridor’ with one of our closest trading partners, ahead of the US presidential state visit.”
Tech giants OpenAI and Nvidia are reportedly planning to unveil billions of dollars of investment into UK data centres during the visit next week.
Sam Altman, the boss of ChatGPT maker OpenAI, and chipmaker Nvidia’s chief executive Jensen Huang are understood to be part of a delegation of US executives to join Mr Trump.
The US president’s two-day trip begins on Wednesday and includes an overnight stay at Windsor Castle.
It comes as the future of tariffs on British steel is still unclear.
When the UK and US signed a trade deal in June, it reduced tariffs on car and aerospace imports to the US.
But no agreement on a similar arrangement for Britain’s steel imports was reached, leaving tariffs on steel at 25%.
A Government spokesperson said: “Our special relationship with the US remains strong.
“Thanks to our trade deal, the UK is still the only country to have avoided 50% steel and aluminium tariffs, and we continue to partner on technologies such as AI, Quantum, and cyber security in our trillion-dollar tech sectors.
“We will work with the US to implement this landmark deal as soon as possible to give industry the security they need, protect vital jobs, and put more money in people’s pockets through the plan for change, as well as welcoming the president on this historic state visit.”
By Helen Corbett, PA political correspondent