“The fact sheet said the deal includes more than $700 million in ethanol exports and $250 million more in other agricultural products such as beef. The deal also commits the two countries to work together to expand agricultural market access,” Clayton reported. “‘The deal includes billions of dollars of increased market access for American exports, especially in agriculture, dramatically increasing access for American beef, ethanol, and virtually all of the products produced by our great farmers,’ Trump said.
“Officials on both sides of the Atlantic noted the United Kingdom agreed to a framework, suggesting more specific negotiations will be needed to finalize the deal,” Clayton reported.
Ethanol
Clayton reported that “under the agreement, the tariff on U.S. ethanol will drop from 19% to zero, Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said at the White House event. The U.S. exported $535 million in ethanol to the U.K. in 2024, according to USDA data, making ethanol the top agricultural export product to the U.K.”
“As the industry touted the news, representatives in the ethanol industry were looking for more details about how the White House came up with the $700 million figure,” Clayton reported. “‘While we are still awaiting the specific details of the agreement, we are excited about the prospects of expanded market access that will help boost our farm economy, while also delivering lower-cost, cleaner fuel to UK drivers,’ said Geoff Cooper, president and CEO of the Renewable Fuels Association.”
Beef
Agri-Pulse’s Oliver Ward reported that “a statement from the UK’s Department of Business and Trade on the contours of the US-UK deal says that the U.S. and UK agreed to ‘reciprocal market access on beef,’ with UK farmers to receive a U.S. export quota for 13,000 metric tons. Accordingly, U.S. exporters will be able to send a comparable amount to the UK tariff-free, according to the agreement text.”
“Asked whether the deal would address any of the nontariff barriers U.S. beef faces in the UK market, which include a ban on growth hormones, Trump said only that the UK will ‘take what they want,'” Ward reported. “U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer added that the U.S. had been stressing to the UK that rules need to be ‘based on science.’ ‘That’s our expectation. We know the UK believes that too. So, we want to come to an accommodation,’ he added.”
“The UK government has said publicly it would not budge on sanitary and phytosanitary measures as part of a U.S. deal, despite U.S. producers pushing for reductions in SPS-related trade barriers,” Ward reported. “The UK is pursuing a food and veterinary agreement with the European Union to streamline agricultural trade between the two partners that is expected later this month and is likely to move closer into alignment with EU standards, analysts say.”
How Ag Groups Have Reacted
Ward reported that “the U.S. beef and corn industries reacted warmly to the announcement of the UK deal.”
“With this trade deal, President Trump has delivered a tremendous win for American family farmers and ranchers,’ said National Cattlemen’s Beef Association President Buck Wehrbein,” according to Ward’s reporting. “‘For years, American cattle producers have seen the United Kingdom as an ideal partner for trade. Between our countries’ shared history, culture, and their desire for high-quality American beef, securing a trade agreement is a natural step forward.'”
Successful Farming’s Noah Rohlfing reported that American Farm Bureau Federation President Zippy Duvall said that “Farm Bureau appreciates the work between the administration and the United Kingdom to secure a new trade agreement. We have long advocated for new trade deals, and this is an important first step in expanding markets in the four countries. More work is needed, however, to remove the arbitrary barriers that have excluded American-grown food from grocery stores in the UK.”
“But even before the details of the UK deal had been announced, some were skeptical that it would lead to meaningful benefits for U.S. exporters,” Ward reported. “In an interview on CNN Thursday morning, Senate Finance Committee ranking member Ron Wyden, D-Ore., doubted ‘there is much there.’ ‘About 2 percent of our imports come from Great Britain,’ Wyden said. ‘So put me down as kind of skeptical.'”
“Justin Wolfers, a professor of economics and public policy at the University of Michigan, called the deal, ‘a photo op, with little macroeconomic significance,’ in a post to X,” Ward reported. “He pointed out that the UK already has a very low average tariff rate, so the deal has ‘limited upside.'”
Clayton reported that “in the big picture, right now the United Kingdom is a minor buyer or seller in U.S. agricultural trade. Effectively the U.K. makes up about 1.5% of all U.S. agricultural trade. The U.S. exported just under $2.2 billion in agricultural products to the U.K. last year with ethanol being the single highest-selling product.”
“The U.S. imported $2.7 billion in agricultural products from the United Kingdom in 2024,” Clayton reported. “The lion’s share of U.K.’s totals are distilled spirits such as scotch and gin, which top $1.6 billion in sales to the U.S.”
Source : illinois.edu