LONDON — In a much-hyped split-screen Oval Office phone call a month ago, President Donald Trump promised Britain’s Prime Minister Keir Starmer that the two had struck an “historic” trade deal.
The agreement would lower Trump’s punishing 25 percent tariffs on key U.K. exports, including cars, steel and aluminum, the White House said. The pact meant tariffs would be “immediately slashed,” No. 10 trumpeted.
A month later, those duties remain in place. There is still no clear timeline for when they’ll lift.
“Both countries sold their announcement as if [the deal] was done,” said a senior British business representative. And while there’s “no evidence” yet to suggest the tariffs won’t eventually be lifted, they explained, “until it’s done, it’s not done.”
