Residents of the United Kingdom will get lower tariffs, while Americans are stuck paying higher ones.
The White House is hailing a new trade deal with the United Kingdom as “a great deal for America.”
But is it a great deal for Americans? The specifics of the deal seem to suggest otherwise.
The agreement maintains the 10 percent universal tariff that President Donald Trump imposed on nearly all imports to the United States. But even the president admits this is a tariff hike on American consumers, rather than a reduction.
The point of comparison should be the average tariff rate on imports from the U.K. before Trump took office. In 2023, the most recent year for which full data are available, the average U.S. tariff on British goods was 3.3 percent.
That means this “deal” charges American consumers a 10 percent baseline tax on goods that were previously taxed at 3.3 percent. That’s not a win for free trade or lower prices.
Meanwhile, it is British consumers who will benefit from lower tariffs. According to the White House, the deal means that American exports to the U.K. will now face an average tariff rate of 1.8 percent, down from 5.1 percent before the deal.
So it’s a 6.7% increase for us and a 5.1% decrease for the Brits? Thank you ever so much for screwing us over, King Donald!
https://reason.com/2025/05/09/the-u-k-trade-deal-screws-american-consumers