(Reuters) -The United States will aim for Britain to reduce its automotive tariff from 10% to 2.5%, the Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday, citing people with knowledge of a draft document circulated by the administration of President Donald Trump.
British finance minister Rachel Reeves is due to meet Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent this week to push Britain’s case for a trade agreement with Washington that could lower or eliminate the tariffs imposed by Trump on UK exports.
Washington is preparing its terms for trade negotiations, aiming for London to reduce levies and other non-tariff barriers on a variety of goods, the report said, adding the Trump administration also aims to push for more relaxed rules on U.S. agricultural imports, including beef.
Trump imposed a 10% tariff on most imports from Britain and a 25% tariff on key sectors such as cars and steel.
It remains unclear if the U.S. will consider reducing its 10% tariff on Britain if London agrees to all of its trade demands, according to the Journal.
“The administration’s trade and economic team is working at breakneck speed to negotiate custom-tailored deals with our major trading partners. Any final decisions and agreements, however, will come from President Trump and President Trump only,” White House spokesman Kush Desai said when asked about the report.
A British government spokesperson declined to comment on the specifics in the report, saying they won’t provide a running commentary on live trade talks or set any timelines.
“We’ve been clear that a trade war is not in anyone’s interests and we will continue to take a calm and steady approach to talks and aim to find a resolution,” the spokesperson added.
(Reporting by Urvi Dugar; Additional reporting by Jeff Mason and Anusha Devang Shah; Editing by Nia Williams, Christopher Cushing and Toby Chopra)
