Washington, London announce trade deal

United States President Donald Trump and United Kingdom Prime Minister Keir Starmer used the G7 summit in Canada on Monday as a backdrop for the unveiling of a signed and detailed version of the trade deal they had agreed to verbally last month.

Heralding the deal, which reduces import taxes, or tariffs, on aircraft parts and UK cars exported to the US, as a "sign of strength" between their countries, Starmer said it "implements on car tariffs and aerospace "and marked a "very important day "for both nations.

Trump said he wanted to ensure the UK was "very well protected "from the full force of his tariffs because "I like them".

"We signed it, and it's done," he said. "It's a fair deal for both. It'll produce a lot of jobs, a lot of income."

However, the deal still requires most of the UK's exports to the US to be subject to a 10 percent tariff, which is significantly higher than many were previously subject to before Trump came to power.

The deal will allow the UK to export 100,000 cars at a tariff rate of 10 percent. Without the agreement, the rate would have been 27.5 percent. Before Trump came to power, the rate was 2.5 percent. Because the UK only exports fewer than 100,000 vehicles a year to the US, the deal essentially covers all of its auto exports.

The agreement also calls for similar tariff reductions on UK-produced steel and aluminum, but the specifics have not yet been agreed upon.

The UK government has stated that it hopes the tariff on UK-made steel and aluminum can be reduced to 0 percent, down from the current 25 percent.

Mike Hawes, chief executive of the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders, the industry group representing UK carmakers, told the BBC the deal amounts to "huge reassurance" for his sector.

"UK exports to the US were never a threat to US production," he said.

While the UK government has hailed the deal as a major pact and huge win for British businesses, critics have said it falls far short of the free-trade agreement the nation has long wanted, with Kemi Badenoch, leader of the UK's main opposition, the Conservative Party, describing it as a "tiny tariff deal "that achieves little.