President Donald Trump and Britain’s Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer signed a U.S.-UK trade deal at the G7 summit on Monday, but dropped it on the floor when attempting to present it to the press, sending Starmer scrabbling.
Donald Trump made an abrupt departure from the G7 meeting held in Canada yesterday, chastising French President Emmanuel Macron for trying to guess why as he went, but not before he signed the new trade deal with Britain.
Both the President and his British counterpart stepped out of the G7 conference to present a signed document to the press, but as President Trump opened the folder, the freshly minted deal spilled onto the floor. “We all know the great Prime Minister of the UK and — whoops! Sorry about that”, President Trump said, as Prime Minister Starmer crouched on the floor gathering the papers.
“A very important document!” Starmer exclaimed as he handed them back.
US President Donald Trump (L) holds a signed US-UK trade deal next to British Prime Minister Keir Starmer as they speak to reporters during the Group of Seven (G7) Summit at the Pomeroy Kananaskis Mountain Lodge in Kananaskis, Alberta, Canada on June 16, 2025. (Photo by Stefan Rousseau / POOL / AFP) (Photo by STEFAN ROUSSEAU/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)
Under the terms of the deal the United Kingdom economy will be ducking several tariffs President Trump is levying on the rest of the world. Most prominent among them is the British aerospace industry taking a zero per cent tariff — exports of Rolls Royce engines and advanced aeronautic components from the UK are important for America’s aerospace businesses — and the auto industry being cut to just 10 per cent.
The United Kingdom is understood to have swerved high tariffs for cars levied on the rest of the world because the country does not have much left of domestically owned volume auto-makers, with many British car exports to the United States being of the boutique, hand-crafted type not undercutting American marques.
Steel and aluminum remain at 25 per cent, below the global rate of 50 per cent, but it is understood negotiations continue on that point and once the United States is satisfied safeguards are in place to prevent China using the United Kingdom as a route to dump steel on the American market, the rate may fall again.
President Trump praised Sir Keir and the United Kingdom itself, saying it enjoyed special protection from tariffs because he liked Britain so much. The President said: “I just signed it, and it’s done… it’s a fair deal for both, and it produces a lot of jobs, a lot of income… And we have many, many other ones coming. But you see, the level of enthusiasm is very good, but the relationship that we have is fantastic.”
“The UK is very well protected. You know why? Because I like them – that’s their ultimate protection.”
The President left Canada shortly afterwards. French President Emmanuel Macron speculated his early departure was because of the Israel-Iran war, a suggestion Trump forcefully denied.
He wrote in a statement on Truth Social early Tuesday morning that Macron was “publicity seeking” and had been mistaken in his claims. Trump said: “Wrong! He has no idea why I am now on my way to Washington, but it certainly has nothing to do with a Cease Fire. Much bigger than that. Whether purposely or not, Emmanuel always gets it wrong. Stay Tuned!”.
