Britain Rushes To Reach US Trade Deal

By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News

LONDON (Worthy News) – Britain’s government rushed Monday to reach a last-minute trade agreement with the United States Washington to avoid — or at least mitigate — more tariffs set to be announced on Wednesday by U.S. President Donald Trump.

The accord would be its first significant trade deal with Washington since Britain exited the European Union in a princess that became known as Brexit.

Since departing the EU at the start of the decade, Britain had unsuccessfully tried to strike an agreement with the United States under the previous Conservative government.

Yet in a sign of hope, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Donald Trump held “productive negotiations” towards “a U.K.-U.S. economic prosperity deal” in a phone call, Downing Street said.

The pair reportedly agreed that negotiations will “continue at pace” in the Sunday night call.

Their talks came after Britain’s Home Secretary Yvette Cooper warned that “no option is off the table” regarding a British response to any U.S. tariffs.

STILL HOPEFUL

The warnings came although Starmer, leader of the Labour party that won power in July, visited Washington in late February before returning “hopeful” that an accord could be reached.

Britain appeared to seek a deal before April 2, which Trump has termed “Liberation Day,” when he unveils supposedly “reciprocal” tariff tailored to different trading partners.

Ahead of the widely awaited Trump announcement, volatility gripped global markets, with stocks erasing losses in the final stretch of what market watchers called “a jittery quarter.”

At least some equities bounced back, and bonds moved away from session highs. Gold, traditionally a safe-haven in times of crisis, climbed to a record of well above $3,100 per ounce.

From New York to London and Tokyo, stocks were hit by intense swings. While the S&P 500 index of 500 leading companies wiped out a 1.7 percent slide, U.S. shares saw their worst quarter compared to the rest of the world since 2009, Bloomberg News agency reported.

Defensive groups outperformed, and energy producers joined a rally in oil as Trump suggested the U.S. may work to curtail crude shipments from Russia.

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