UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer visited the White House to discuss the UK-US relationship with US President Donald Trump. The PM’s administration is looking to secure an economic deal centred around the development of artificial intelligence (AI) and other technology, rather than a full free trade agreement which had been touted as a major opportunity for the UK post-Brexit. It suggests the UK might avoid harsh US tariffs.
“We’re going to end up with a very good trade agreement for both countries, and we’re working on that as we speak” Trump told reporters at a press conference in the White House with Starmer on Thursday (February 26).
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Former PMs Rishi Sunak and Boris Johnson had tried to pursue a trade deal with the US, but negotiations always stalled over disagreements on British agricultural standards.
Starmer is hoping that, by focusing on specific sectors, those obstacles can be avoided. He wants to frame the UK as a place where American companies can invest in AI while avoiding stricter EU regulations.
“Instead of over-regulating these new technologies, we’re seizing the opportunities they offer,” Starmer said at the press conference.
One major reason for the UK evading the aggressive tariff threats Trump has made to other major trading partners like Canada, Mexico and the EU is that their trade relationship with the US looks different. Whereas the EU has a $200b trade surplus with the US, American figures say that the US had a physical goods trade surplus with the UK of $10b in 2023.
The main arbiters of the “new economic deal,” as the PM has referred to it, will be UK Ambassador to the US Peter Mandelson, former European trade commissioner, and Trump has said administration officials participating in the talks include Vice President JD Vance.
Vance’s role in the negotiations might be a source of tension. The VP expressed worries over “infringements on free speech” in the UK at the joint press conference. He said that while “what the British do on their own is up to them” regarding free speech legislation, it “also affects American technology companies and by extension American citizens.”
Starmer quickly jumped in saying “We’ve had free speech for a very long time in the UK.”
At the Munich Security Conference in early February, Vance accused the UK and the US of ignoring concerns regarding migration and free speech.
