US trade deal: Jonathan Reynolds questioned on Trump talks progress
Shadow business secretary Andrew Griffith has raised questions around the progress of the UK-US trade deal, saying that the agreement has “not been signed, published and presented in any form”.
In a letter posted on X, the former Treasury minister said that “no one has ever seen such a deal” and criticised Labour for a lack of face time with the US Department of Commerce under Trump.
Griffith said: “This single meeting was a whole month after Howard Lutnick was appointed United States Secretary of Commerce and two months after President Trump was inaugurated – itself four months after the election.”
“In comparison, you and your ministers met with President Biden’s trade team on three occasions, including one meeting just six days after the Labour government was formed on 5 July 2024.”
He added: “Your delay in meeting with President Trump’s trade team can be seen as nothing but a dereliction of your duty to British businesses, the impact of which we are now seeing.”
Griffith questioned the relative lack of detail surrounding the deal, asking “was the announcement of a UK-US trade deal pushed through for political reasons?”
“You, the Prime Minister and Minister [Douglas] Alexander have all stated that a trade deal has been secured with the US, despite no such deal ever having been signed, published or presented to Parliament in any form.”
“The impact of the lack of a deal has been shown by the scrambling your department is doing to secure more information about steel tariffs announced by President Trump last week.”
He quipped: “Has Larry the No10 cat got it?”
Trade deal uncertainties
The UK-US trade deal agreed in May was the first such agreement signed off by the Trump Administration since the US President threw global markets into carnage with his ‘Liberation Day’ package of tariffs.
Trump announced in April that the UK would only be hit with the baseline ten per cent tariffs – in comparison to the EU, which faces more than 20 per cent levies.
Though the announcement of the deal was a key diplomatic moment for both sides, exact details of the agreement remain limited.
Sir Keir Starmer has said that tariffs on steel and aluminium will be slashed to zero, having been set at 25 per cent earlier this year.
A government spokesperson said: “Ministers and officials have worked tirelessly to ensure that the UK was the first country to secure a trade deal with the US, helping us deliver on the Plan for Change.
“The Government is engaging intensively with the US to implement the Economic Prosperity Deal that we agreed on 8 May at pace, including on steel and aluminium, and will update on progress in due course.”
Meanwhile, Starmer said: “We’ve been negotiating this for a long time. I had discussions with Trump along the way, we’re clearly in agreement.
“There is a written text, and this is an agreement that’s clear. We’ve worked well together, we respect each other and we trust each other,” the PM added.