Trump Says UK Trade Deal Will Be 'Done Rather Quickly'
President Donald Trump said he's "very receptive" to reaching a trade deal with the United Kingdom that would mean hiking tariffs on the U.K. wouldn't be necessary. Trump and U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer held a joint press conference after their meeting Feb. 27, which Starmer opened by emphasizing that trade is fair and balanced between the two countries.
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Both men said they're working on a trade deal, which Starmer described as having "advanced technology at its core."
"I think we're going to have a deal done rather quickly," Trump said.
When a British reporter asked Trump if Starmer had convinced him not to impose tariffs on the U.K. under his reciprocal trade push, Trump joked, "He tried. He was working hard, he was working hard, I'll tell you that."
He then added, "I think there's a very good case ... we could end up with a real trade deal where the tariffs wouldn't be necessary. I'm very receptive to it. In all seriousness, I think we have a very good chance of reaching a good deal. Could be really terrific for both countries."
During the same press conference, Trump batted away a question about why he insists that foreign producers, not U.S. importers, pay tariffs.
"I put massive tariffs on China during my four years, we had the best economy in the history of our country. I used tariffs to even things up. We took in hundreds of billions of dollars and we had no inflation," he said. "We're going to bring our car industry back, we're going to bring our chips back ... pharmaceuticals and drugs. The thing that's going to bring us there is tariffs. It's going to make our country rich, and it's going to stop us from being a laughingstock all over the world."