Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said on Thursday that the newly announced trade deal between the U.S. and the U.K. is just the beginning, as more agreements are expected in the coming weeks.
“This is Donald Trump at his best creating the opportunity for someone like me to go out and make the deals that are the best for America,” Lutnick said during an interview on FOX Business’ “Kudlow.” “We’ve got the cards, and we’re going to play them incredibly, incredibly well.”
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The preliminary deal — which is touted as boosting the U.S. agriculture industry — retains President Donald Trump’s 10% tariffs on British exports, lowers U.S. duties on British car exports and expands agriculture access for both countries. It is expected to generate $5 billion in new exporting opportunities for American companies and $6 billion in tariff revenue, according to Lutnick.
“This is the right kind of deal you want to do with a country,” Lutnick said. “We help them, we’re going to sell them beef, and they’re going to buy less beef from other countries. I think that’s the way they balanced it. It’s great for us.”
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Additionally, the trade deal allows for British-made Rolls-Royce engines to enter tariff-free into the U.S. The engines are used on some Boeing jets. In turn, he said, the U.K. is planning to buy $10 billion worth of Boeing jets.
British Airways owner IAG announced on Friday morning a new order for 32 Boeing 787-10 Dreamliner aircraft, according to Reuters.
Since Trump entered office, revenues from tariffs are up 45% year over year, with a run rate of $125 billion. However, the “winning move” for U.S. gross domestic product is cutting the trade deficit, Lutnick said.
“If we cut the deficit 25% — easy to do — that’s one point GDP,” he said.
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Companies are also flocking to the U.S. to invest — with Trump recently celebrating a trillion-dollar surge in American investment. Companies including Apple, Nvidia, Hyundai and Merck have promised to invest billions in the U.S.
The U.S.-U.K. deal is also expected to reduce reliance on supply chains coming out of China and will set the stage for future deals, Lutnick said.
“This is the kind of move that is going to change the way America works, changes the way America feels about itself, and it’s going to drive our economy,” he said. “The president understands business. … Wait till you see the numbers coming out of the Middle East next week.”
While more deals are currently in the works, the U.S. is primarily focused on working with larger countries.
“We want to do a big country from Asia for sure, because we want to be geographic. We want to show people the structure of how it can done,” Lutnick said. “But remember — giant countries. I don’t want to go fast. I want to do it correctly.”
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