The US-UK agreement is the first deal since Trump imposed sweeping tariffs in April, igniting a global trade war and rattling financial markets

WASHINGTON - President Donald Trump touted a “tremendous trade deal” between the U.S. and United Kingdom as he discussed the first agreement since he imposed sweeping tariffs in April that ignited a global trade war and rattled financial markets .

“I'm thrilled to announce that we have reached a breakthrough trade deal with the United Kingdom,” Trump said May 8 from the Oval Office, noting that the agreement happened to fall on "Victory Day" in celebration of the end of World War II in Europe. “There could be no more perfect morning to reach this historic agreement,” Trump said.

Final details are still in the works, Trump said, while adding from the White House that the agreement would provide billions of dollars in access for U.S. agricultural products such as beef and ethanol. “They’re opening up their country,” Trump said. “Their country is a little closed and we appreciate it.”

United Kingdom Prime Minister Keri Starmer was put on a speaker phone for the announcement and called it a “really fantastic, historic day” coinciding with the 80th anniversary of the key moment at the end of World War II.

“This is going to boost trade between and across our countries,” Starmer siad.

Trump had imposed reciprocal tariffs on a slew of countries April 2 but later paused most of them for 90 days, saying those nations' leaders were eager to negotiate trade deals. Since then administration officials repeatedly have said they are close to making deals.

The UK wasn't hit with a reciprocal tariff during Trump's April roll out, but faced a 10% universal tariff and 25% tariffs that Trump imposed on foreign automobiles, steel and aluminum.

Trump: Reduced UK auto tariffs to help Rolls-Royce, Bentley and Jaguar cars

President Trump said he made a special exception for the United Kingdom by lowering auto tariffs from 25% to 10% to help high-end vehicles such as Rolls-Royce, Bentley and Jaguar vehicles that are manufactured in Britain.

“It's a very special car, and it's very limited number, too,” Trump said. “It’s not one of the monster car companies that makes millions of cars. They make a very small number of cars that are super luxury.”

“That’s really handmade stuff, they've been doing it for a long time in the same location,” he said. “So I said, ‘Let’s help the out with that one.’”

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer cast doubt on the durability of President Donald Trump ’s trade agreement with the United Kingdom, the details of which are not fully known.

Schumer, D-New York, said in a morning Senate floor speech, ahead of Trump’s announcement, that the trade deal “is likely to be built on quicksand.”

“And with this president, if past is prologue, who knows if this ‘deal’ will actually stick,” Schumer, D-N.Y., said.

Trump’s trade deal with the United Kingdom maintained a 10% universal tariff on the country.

Asked if trade deals with other countries also could result in tariffs staying at 10%, rather than the higher reciprocal tariffs the president threatened last month before pausing most of them, Trump said no.

The United Kingdom could begin sending more Aston Martin cars – the iconic ride for fictional spy James Bond – to the U.S. under the trade deal, but Trump said potential tariffs on foreign films were still open to discussion.

“James Bond has nothing to worry about, that I can tell you,” Trump said to laughter in the Oval Office.

Trump noted that he was friends with Sean Connery, the late Scottish actor who created the Bond character in film. Trump has two golf courses in Scotland, and Connery helped resolve a zoning dispute for the one in Aberdeen.

The United Kingdom said in a press release that the trade deal with the United States will help a steel industry “on the brink of collapse.”

The U.S. imposed 25% tariffs on foreign steel. The UK won’t face those tariffs now, according to the release.

Responding to a question about the significance of the trade deal announced with the UK, Trump said it’s incorrect to suggest he’s overstating its importance.

Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said 10% tariffs would remain under the trade deal, but that the United Kingdom was opening its markets for an estimated $5 billion in U.S. beef, ethanol and machinery.

Although the details of the trade deal are still unclear, Trump said the United Kingdom has agreed to reduce or eliminate the number of “non-tariff barriers that unfairly discriminated against American products."

“This is now turning out, I think, really to be a great deal for both countries because it will be really great for the UK also,” Trump said.

United Kingdom Keir Starmer, talking through a speaker phone, touted the moment as a “fantastic, historic day” as the U.S. and Britain agreed to a trade deal.

In another trade arena, the Treasury Department announced May 8 it sanctioned a Chinese refinery and three port terminal operators for buying or helping deliver hundreds of millions of dollars worth of Iranian oil.

President Donald Trump had signed an executive order to block sales of Iranian oil as part of an economic pressure campaign against the Middle East country working to develop its own nuclear weapon.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio praised the trade deal with the United Kingdom as “an important step towards fair and reciprocal trade” with other countries around the world.

U.S. stock markets rose in initial trading after Trump’s announcement of a trade deal with the United Kingdom.

Final details on Trump's trade deal with the United Kingdom remain under wraps.

But the two nations exchange a much smaller amount of goods and services – largely cars and chemicals heading to the U.S. – than the U.S. does with its largest trading partners.

The U.S. exported nearly $80 billion in goods and services in 2024, according to the Census Department , while importing about $68 billion. That ranks the United Kingdom ninth in trade with the U.S.Machinery and transport equipment was also the main goods exported from the United Kingdom to the U.S. in 2023. Cars represented nearly half the UK exports to the U.S., ahead of Germany and the Netherlands, according to that country’s trade office .

Chemical exports, mostly for pharmaceuticals, account for nearly one-quarter of the exports to the U.S. They were the second largest group of UK commodities exported to the U.S.

The United Kingdom figures are dwarfed by U.S. trade with Mexico at $839 billion in goods and serves exchanging across the U.S.-Mexico border last year. Canada traded $762 billion in goods and services with the U.S., while China coming in at $582 billion in trade with the U.S.

Trump’s announcement already is being met with skepticism.

University of Michigan economist Justin Wolfers told CNN he wouldn’t consider it a major trade deal, noting the United Kingdom only accounts for about 3% of U.S. trade.

Trump commented about the intense interest in the trade deals during a May 6 meeting with the prime minister of Canada.

More: How will Trump's tariffs affect grocery store prices? We explain.

"Everyone says: 'When, when, when are you going to sign deals?" Trump said. "We don't have to sign deals. We could sign 25 deals right now . . . if we wanted. We don't have to sign deals. They have to sign deals with us. They want a piece of our market."

The president also expressed frustration with the constant questions. "I wish they'd stop asking how many deals are you signing this week," he said.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told lawmakers during a May 6 committee hearing that deals could be signed soon.

There are 18 countries that Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent described as "major trading partners." He said negotiations have begun with all of them except China, but talks between U.S. and Chinese officials are now scheduled.

Bessent and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer are traveling to Switzerland on May 8, where they will meet with China's "lead representative on economic matters."

Chinese President Xi Jinping is also meeting on May 8 with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow. Jinping told Putin their two countries should be "friends of steel", as they pledged to boost cooperation to a new level at a time of heightened confrontation with the West.