WASHINGTON – US President Donald Trump suggested he might want to renege on the terms of a tariff deal the US reached with the UK, as he raised complaints about British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and the country’s domestic policies.
“We gave them a good trade deal. Better than I had to. Which can always be changed,” Mr Trump said in a brief interview with Sky News published on April 15.
Mr Trump and Mr Starmer agreed in 2025 to implement a trade pact that was favourable compared to the deals struck with many other US allies, promising to lower tariffs on key British exports and raise UK quotas on certain American agricultural products.
The remarks arrive as leaders from the two countries are locked in a heated exchange over the UK’s reluctance to get involved in the US’s war in Iran.
The trade deal reached in May 2025 sets a baseline 10 per cent tariff on many British goods. The US has also created some carve outs that give favourable trade terms for the UK’s civil aerospace aircraft sector and the country’s auto exports.
However, Mr Trump’s ability to unilaterally impose new tariffs was undercut in February in a landmark Supreme Court decision. That ruling invalidated many of his import duty plans, even while Trump administration officials have said they are working to rebuild that tariff wall in the coming months.
However, the White House now has to rely on legal authority that can be slow to implement and is more limited in scope.
Mr Trump told Sky News that the state of the special relationship between the US and UK was “sad”, adding that he likes Mr Starmer, but thinks he has made “tragic” policy mistakes, such as limiting oil drilling in the North Sea.
“I love your country and would love to see it succeed. But if you have bad immigration policies and bad energy policies, you have the worst of both. You can’t succeed, not possible,” Mr Trump added.
The UK leader has rebuffed the US president’s requests to assist the US Navy in a blockade of the Strait of Hormuz.
Mr Starmer also declined to allow US bombers to use British bases in the initial attack on Iran and to allow permit limited use subsequently, a decision that has attracted Mr Trump’s ire, who has said the British prime minister is “no Winston Churchill”.
Speaking at the outbreak of the war, UK Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves had said the UK should not sacrifice its principles for more favourable trading terms.
Despite the spat between both countries’ leaders, King Charles III is set to visit Washington at the end of April. The state visit – King Charles’s first such trip since becoming monarch in 2022 – comes as the US prepares to mark the 250th anniversary of its independence from Britain.
“He’s a great gentleman, a friend of mine,” Mr Trump told Sky News of the king. “He’s a fantastic person.” BLOOMBERG
