US and UK in talks on trade deal that could spare Britain from tariffs

Donald Trump said he was working on a trade agreement with the UK and suggested that Britain could avoid tariffs if countries were protected, allies failed to agree to the US security guarantee for Ukraine.

During a warm joint press conference at the White House on Thursday, the US President said that his UK’s equivalent Sir Care Starmar was “hard to persuade him to impose tariffs on Britain.”

“I would tell you that he had achieved the way they give him there, but he tried,” Trump told about the starmer, described him as “very hard negotiator.” “We can finish with a practical trade agreement very well where tariffs will not be needed. We’ll see. “

One day after Trump’s advice that could avoid UK tariffs, he came a day after threatening 25 percent of his exports to his export and he said he would move forward with tariffs in Mexico and Canada and increase his planned tariffs in China.

Trump said that the UK had a “very different place” from the EU.

Starmar confirmed that the United Kingdom and the US decided on Thursday “to start working on a new economic agreement with advanced technology on the basis of the original.”

British officials said that both sides had aimed at the economic and technology agreement in a period that had shut down a completely free trade agreement.

Trump says Vice-President JD Vans and US Treasury Secretary Scott Basent were among senior US administration officials working on a possible deal. “I think we will make a deal. The The As soon as it can be done, “he said.

However, the US-UK trade agreements were established in the past because of the refusal to accept some British American farm products. The idea of ​​this national trade agreement was a central argument for Brexit supporters almost a decade ago.

Even if the United Kingdom achieved a more modest goal of imposing Trump’s tariffs on the face of a full-fledged trade agreement with the United States, it would be a “real bonus”, the UK economist Paul Dales said.

A meeting between Trump and Starmer, which concentrated on the protection of a peace deal for Ukraine’s war, went to the White House for similar discussions for French President Emmanuel Macron.

Ukrainian President Vloadimire Jensky will meet with Trump in Washington on Friday with signs of melting in their relationship with Trump. When asked about referring to Zensky as “dictator”, Trump said: “Did I say that?”

European leaders have called on Trump to provide military cover for any peacekeeping mission in Ukraine. However, on Thursday, Trump said that the United States would not need to supply this national “backstop” as Americans working on a proposed mineral agreement with Kiev in the United States would act as resistant against potential Russian attacks.

“We are a backstop because we’ll be there, we will work in the country,” Trump said at the Oval office.

“This is a great thing economically for them,” he said. “We are taking a lot of people there. I just don’t think that you will have any problems. “

Trump said that the United States of Russian-based Ukrainian Land “We can go back as much as” “will try and get” and he and Starmer will discuss it during their personal meeting. Trump said “they fought long and hard on the land.”

The US President, who received an invitation from King Charles to meet the monarchy of Scotland and accepted the possibility of a second state visit to the UK, offered praise for Starmer and called him a “special man”.

“I have always taken care of the British,” Trump said. ” “They don’t need too much help, they can take care of themselves.”

However, the US President has added a qualification that may probably be occupied by the Starmar: “If they need help I will always be with the British, okay? But they do not need help. “

Trump told Starmar that he would organize a meeting to discuss European defense with European leaders from six countries in London on Sunday, he believes that Russian President Vladimir Putin will respect any peace agreement with Ukraine.

“I think he will keep his words,” Trump said. “I talked to him, I have known him for a long time.” He added: “I don’t believe he will violate his words. I think the deal is going on. “

Asked if he believed Putin, Trump said that he had a “confidence and verification” approach to the Russian President.

During the White House meeting, Trump unexpectedly supported the sovereignty of the Chagos Islands in Britain to protect the future of UK-US military bases for up to 5 years under the long-term agreement to Mauritius.

“We’ll talk about that soon and I think it will work very well,” Trump said. ”

The conversation between Trump and Starmer was mostly cordial, Vans had earlier said that the UK was responsible for “free speech that was actually influenced by the British.. But American technology agencies and extensions also influence American citizens by extension”.

Starma pushed back and said that the UK had “free speech for a very long time” and added that it was “very, will last for a long time”.

Starmar began his meeting by handing over a letter to King Charles with Trump, where the king invited the US President to Scotland.

The purpose of the visit was Starmar’s state visit to the UK in the UK – a state visit – a US president twice honored for the first time.

Asked if he would accept the proposal to go to Scotland, Trump said “Answer Yes”, he added that the king was “a beautiful man”.

Additional Report of Stef Shavez in Washington