Shadow Business Secretary Andrew Griffith has criticised the newly announced US-UK trade deal, arguing it falls short of a comprehensive free trade agreement.
He acknowledged that while tariff reductions in sectors like automotive manufacturing are welcome, the UK is "still worse off than when this started."
The comments come as Donald Trump's administration announced a trade agreement with the UK yesterday.
In his announcement, President Trump described the deal as including "billions of dollars of increased market access for American exports, especially in agriculture".
Shadow Business Secretary Andrew Griffiths has criticised the newly announced UK-US trade deal
GB NEWS
He specifically mentioned: "dramatically increasing access for American beef, ethanol, and virtually all of the products produced by our great farmers".
Trump also stated the UK would "reduce or eliminate numerous non-tariff barriers that unfairly discriminated against American products".
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Speaking to GB News, Griffith said: "Tariffs are generally a bad thing. They reduce economic trade between countries and it's trade that helps grow economies and has actually lifted billions of people out of poverty around the world.
"So today, we're still facing higher tariffs than we were two months ago. Of course, it’s welcome when a sector like automotive, brilliant manufacturing here in the UK, has its tariffs lowered.
"But let’s be crystal clear about what’s happened: they’re merely being lowered to the 10 per cent threshold, which is the same rate applied to goods from the rest of the world and across the rest of the UK economy. So we’re still worse off than when this started.
"This is not a comprehensive trade deal or a free trade agreement. It doesn’t cover most sectors of the economy. It doesn’t cover services and that was what we were negotiating.
"That’s what the Government should still be pursuing. We had made significant progress with that under President Trump in his first term.
"So it’s not so much about what’s in this deal, it’s about what’s missing. There’s nothing clear about the future of pharmaceuticals.
"There was no mention yesterday of the impact on the film and TV industries, both of which the U.S. has suggested could face higher tariffs.
"And we’ll have to look closely at the details, especially around farming and food production. Overnight, U.S. farmers seemed a lot happier about this deal than UK farmers. So let’s see exactly what the government has agreed to on that front."
Donald Trump announced the deal yesterday
ReutersKeir Starmer hailed the announcement as a “fantastic, historic day” as he revealed the new agreement—the first deal reached with the White House since former President Trump introduced sweeping global tariffs last month.
Speaking to employees at the Jaguar Land Rover plant in Solihull, Starmer emphasised that the agreement had helped protect jobs in the automotive and steel sectors, which had been at serious risk.
Paul Nowak, General Secretary of the TUC, welcomed the development, saying it “pulls us back from the edge, and many workers will be breathing a sigh of relief.”
