President Trump has announced that a new trade deal with the United Kingdom (UK) is nearly completed, and says it will provide a boost for American agriculture.
“They say that our agriculture is, you know, second-to-none, and it’ll be a great asset. People are going to be able to have options choice and they’ll have more of it,” said President Trump from the Oval Office on Thursday, as he announced the framework for a trade deal with the UK.
“The deal includes billions of dollars of increased market access for American exports, especially in agriculture, dramatically increasing access for American beef, ethanol, and virtually all of the products produced by our great farmers,” said Trump.
The Administration say the deal includes more than $700 million in ethanol exports and $250 million more on other ag products—including beef.
U.S. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins was also there in the Oval Office during Trump’s announcement. She says the trade deal with the UK will benefit America’s farmers.
“Specific to the beef [industry], this is going to exponentially increase our beef exports,” said Rollins. “To be very clear, American beef is the safest, the best quality, and the crown jewel of American agriculture for the world.”
“I think a really important part of this deal isn’t just the ethanol reducing of tariffs from 19 to zero [percent]—which for our row croppers is a huge deal—but also for beef. As we move forward, I know our incredible trade team is looking at all the meats, all the produce, really all of our agriculture exports,” said Rollins, who added that she plans to visit her counterpart in the UK early next week.
The administration says it plans to keep the 10-percent basic tariff for many items from the UK in place.
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