US trade deal could help UK economy but won't transform it

The British government made faster economic growth its No. 1 mission.

- ESHE NELSON

But efforts to kick-start it have been repeatedly knocked off course by a global economy lurching from one crisis to another.

On Thursday, British officials appeared to secure a win. The country is set to announce some form of trade deal with the United States that will ease the impact of recent increases in US tariffs.

President Donald Trump said on social media Thursday that the agreement with Britain "is a full and comprehensive one that will cement the relationship between the United States and the United Kingdom for many years to come."

Although the extent of the agreement is still unknown, economists cautioned that it would likely generate only a small boost for Britain, which is still vulnerable to global economic uncertainty.

A trade deal "may provide some relief," said Zara Nokes, an analyst at JP Morgan Asset Management. But "a still-uncertain global backdrop will continue to act as a drag on UK activity."

British officials have been negotiating in Washington for months as they sought to insulate their country from Trump's desire to reshape the global trade order. They also wanted to protect an economy that barely avoided a recession at the end of last year and was on course for a relatively strong recovery later this year.

However, officials failed to secure exemptions last month when Britain was hit with the 10% "baseline" tariffs that Trump imposed on America's trading partners.