How the rest of the world will suffer from Trump’s first trade victory with the UK

The White House on Thursday announced Trump’s first official trade agreement with the United Kingdom, calling it “comprehensive,” but the rest of the world won’t be celebrating.

The deal does not reduce the overall 10% tariff rate that Trump imposed back in April. Nothing has really changed—except a few favors carved out for luxury cars and airplane parts.

According to CNN’s full breakdown of the announcement, this deal is already being treated as a win by Wall Street and the administration, even though it leaves global supply chains frozen and American businesses stranded.

Trump’s team declared the agreement a “very big and exciting day.” They held a press event in the Oval Office, where UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer joined in over speakerphone. Keir wasn’t even in Washington.

Trump had called him at the last minute, what the British ambassador described as “a very typical, 11th-hour intervention.” The British side said the arrangement was “historic,” although Keir’s tone was so flat it might as well have been automated.

Even so, the UK agreed to it—because, as Keir put it, “The question you should be asking is: Is it better than where we were yesterday?”

Trump cuts car tax but leaves global tariffs untouched

Under this new agreement, the US will not increase its baseline 10% tariff on British imports. That rate stays exactly where it was on April 2. The only real changes are some custom adjustments for UK industries.

British luxury cars, including Aston Martin, Rolls-Royce, Jaguar, and Bentley, were going to be taxed at 27.5%, but now they’ll only face 10%. These changes do not apply to other consumer goods.

British aerospace companies can now send aircraft parts to the US without paying any tariffs. In return, British Airways is expected to purchase 30 Boeing 787 Dreamliners, a detail confirmed by Bloomberg. On steel and aluminum, both sides agreed to scrap taxes completely, though no quantities or enforcement mechanisms were announced.

In agriculture, both countries granted each other tariff-free exports on beef and other unnamed farm products. However, no timelines or export limits were disclosed. The officials from both countries made it clear: the details of the so-called “comprehensive” agreement are still being negotiated.

Chief economist at RSM, Joe Brusuelas, responded on social media, “A trade agreement where the details are still being negotiated is not an agreement. This does not provide the clarity necessary to lift the fog of uncertainty created by a trade war of choice.”

Despite this, US markets rallied. Investors reacted to the White House’s tone, interpreting it as a sign that Trump might slow down the economic destruction his tariffs have caused. But there’s no sign of real change. The US-UK trade relationship only represents 3% of total US trade. That’s a sliver compared to the China trade freeze, which still hasn’t moved an inch since Trump imposed 145% tariffs on most imports.

Global businesses still locked out while Trump celebrates

On the same day, the UK deal was announced, Justin Wolfers, an economics professor at the University of Michigan, reminded the public that the rest of the world is still stuck behind Trump’s wall.

“Overwhelmingly, the most important fact about today’s trade deal is that the 10% across-the-board tariffs are staying,” Justin said online. “Tiny tweaks here and there with some trading partners won’t change that. The US is a high tariff country for the foreseeable future, and the trade war continues.”

Before Trump returned to office, the average effective tariff rate was 2.5%. It’s now 22%, the highest in over a century. Thursday’s deal does not change that. It just puts a few extra Bentleys on American roads and some Dreamliners in the air.

Even the White House knows the rest of the global trade grid is in worse shape. The US and China are set to meet this weekend in Geneva, but there’s no optimism. The best Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent could say was he’s hoping for “de-escalation.”

So while Trump calls this a “very big and exciting day,” global exporters, manufacturers, and crypto-linked trade ecosystems are still jammed. This “deal” is a receipt, not a product. And the rest of the world is stuck waiting for real terms that may never come.

KEY Difference Wire: the secret tool crypto projects use to get guaranteed media coverage