‘Good chance’ of UK-US trade deal: JD Vance
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The news: US Vice President JD Vance has said there is a “good chance” the UK and US will be able to reach “great” trade agreement.
The numbers: The pound continued to strengthen against the dollar on Tuesday's news, trading above USD1.32, its highest since the start of October. The FTSE 100 is also rallying for its fourth consecutive day, up around 1.15% in mid-afternoon trading.
The context: In an interview with UnHerd published on Tuesday, Vance singled out the UK as being more likely to achieve agreeable trading terms with the US given President Trump’s affection for the nation as well as cultural links between the countries.
“The president really loves the United Kingdom. He loved the Queen. He admires and loves the King. It is a very important relationship. And he’s a businessman and has a number of important business relationships in [Britain].” Vance added that the connection between the UK and US runs “much deeper than that”, however, underscored by a “real cultural affinity” because “fundamentally America is an Anglo country.”
Vance said that the US administration is working very hard with Keir Starmer’s government, whose efforts to secure an “economic prosperity deal” with the US was derailed when Trump rolled out 10% baseline tariffs on UK imports into the US. The UK was already trying to negotiate with the US to find a way around Trump’s 25% tariffs on steel and autos.
According to Politico, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is prioritising negotiating trade agreements with the UK and Australia. A source telling Politico that Australia is “is a little less complex in terms of their internal politics” than the UK.
