US-UK trade pact: Seems like an episode of a comedy show

The agreement is long on rhetoric and short on what truly matters

- Robert Burgess

Watching the president of the US, Donald Trump, reveal in the Oval Office what he described as "a tremendous trade deal" with the UK reminded me of the 1990s sitcom Seinfeld—it was a show that was literally about nothing.

To be clear, it's not a deal. It's more of a framework for an agreement.

In other words, US and UK negotiators still have a lot of work to do in coming weeks—perhaps months or even years like these things usually take—to hammer out the details. For now, the idea is to have the UK fast-track American goods through customs and reduce barriers on "billions of dollars" of agricultural, chemical, energy and industrial exports, including beef and ethanol.

More importantly, what was announced fails to accomplish any of the three objectives Trump originally put forward leading up to 2 April's 'Liberation Day' for levying tariffs on America's trade partners.

As a refresher, the first was using tariffs (which Americans pay for) to raise tax revenue to help close the federal budget deficit and pay for an extension of the US Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 that is due to expire this year. The second was to bring manufacturing that migrated overseas back to the US, igniting a new 'Golden Age' of America. The third was to achieve foreign policy goals.

None of those three objectives came up in last week's announcement.

So, what is the point?