A bagpipe participant wears conventional costume subsequent to Donald Trump as he arrived at his Trump Turnberry Resort on June 24, 2016 in Ayr, Scotland.
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As U.S. President Donald Trump visits Scotland this week, the U.Ok. will probably be seeking to additional cement heat ties with the White Home chief and to finish some necessary unfinished enterprise.
The president is because of go to two Trump-owned golf websites in Turnberry and Aberdeen between Friday and Tuesday, in addition to one in all his new golf programs that is set to open in August.
He is additionally resulting from have a casual assembly with U.Ok. Prime Minister Keir Starmer and “refine” a current U.S.-U.Ok commerce deal, White Home Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters last week.
The deal between Washington and London centered on a ten% baseline tariff on British items arriving within the States, whereas additionally setting sure quotas and exemptions for autos and aerospace exports.
Whereas the “deal” kicked in on June 30, there are elements of the pact that stay within the “dedication” stage. One in all them is the pledge to take away the 25% tariff on UK metal and aluminum — the rest of the world was hit with a 50% duty — with the U.Ok. needing to make sure that British metal imports are “melted and poured” domestically and do not originate in China.
There are additionally ongoing, thorny discussions over a digital services tax that hits tech firms even when they are not headquartered within the U.Ok., which Washington needs eliminated.
As such, whereas the U.Ok. is in a greater place than a lot of its friends, significantly its neighbors within the European Union who’re looking for a last-ditch trade deal before August 1, there’s unfinished enterprise.
The query is the place may we see some “give and take” within the U.S.-UK commerce deal, Kallum Pickering, chief economist at Peel Hunt, instructed CNBC on Wednesday.
“After all, the U.Ok. would in all probability just like the metal and aluminium tariffs to go down. And the U.S. has a little bit of a difficulty over the digital providers tax, so it is attainable that that is simply a straightforward deal,” he stated, including that there might be some particular headline bulletins when Trump and Starmer meet.
“Something that places a optimistic spin on U.Ok.-U.S. relations in context of this [wider] August 1 deadline, in all probability on the margin, is definitely optimistic for the U.Ok., even the deal itself shouldn’t be a great one. We would not sit right here look by means of the element and say, ‘Oh, it is a good commerce deal,’ it is simply in context, really, it does not look too unhealthy,” Pickering famous.
U.S. President Donald Trump and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer shake palms through the G7 summit in Kananaskis, Alberta, Canada, June 16, 2025.
Kevin Lamarque | Reuters
Whereas they’re unlikely bedfellows politically, Republican Trump seems to take to each other with Starmer, who heads a center-left authorities. When the leaders appeared in a jovial temper collectively on the Group of Seven summit in June, Trump was requested whether or not Britain could be protected against additional tariffs.
“The U.Ok. could be very nicely protected. You know why? Because I like them. That is their final safety,” Trump responded.
Forward of this finance assembly with Starmer, the U.S. president stated talks with the British prime minister would happen “in all probability one in all my properties” in Aberdeen. The White Home has but to publicly verify that element, nonetheless.
The Scotland journey comes forward of a state go to that Trump and First Woman Melania Trump will make in Sept. 17-19, the White Home stated, noting that the president was “honored” and looking out ahead to assembly King Charles and Queen Camilla at Windsor Fort within the early fall.