Who’s the real winner from the UK’s trade deal with the US?
Americast
BBC
4.2 • 2.8K Ratings
🗓️ 8 May 2025
⏱️ 31 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
At a press conference inside the Oval Office on Thursday, Donald Trump - with the British PM Keir Starmer on the phone - announced changes to tariffs which included steel, aluminium and car exports. In return, the UK government made concessions on imports of ethanol and American beef, with Keir Starmer calling it a ‘fantastic, historic day’.
Justin and Anthony unpack the politics behind the deal, asking who is the real winner? With accusations that the UK has caved in too easily to American demands on beef and ethanol, what does today’s announcement mean for the U.S. economy and its trade tariffs with China?
Also today, Justin gets an insider’s account of the “delusion and denial” inside Joe Biden’s curtailed 2024 presidential campaign with his former biographer Chris Whipple, who details the final months in his new book Unchartered.
HOSTS: • Justin Webb, Radio 4 Presenter • Anthony Zurcher, North America Correspondent
GUEST: Chris Whipple, Journalist and Author of “Unchartered: How Trump Beat Biden, Harris, and the Odds in the Wildest Campaign in History”
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This episode was made by George Dabby, Laurie Kalus, Alix Pickles and Grace Reeve. The technical producer was Dafydd Evans. The series producer is Purvee Pattni. The senior news editor is Sam Bonham.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | BBC Sounds, Music, Radio, podcasts. |
| 0:04.4 | We are recording this episode at 4.30 in the afternoon, UK time. And the time is important because the UK and the US have just announced in a couple of slightly weird press conferences, a new trade deal, the first of Donald Trump's second term. |
| 0:22.4 | You can hear Anthony laughing in the background because it was strange. |
| 0:25.3 | But we'll get to the strangeness in a moment because amongst all the talk of a fantastic, |
| 0:29.2 | historic day, the removal of various tariffs, let's ask who the real winner is, what the |
| 0:34.0 | politics are behind the deal. |
| 0:36.7 | Welcome to AmeriCast. |
| 0:40.5 | AmeriCast. |
| 0:41.3 | AmeriCast from BBC News. |
| 0:43.6 | You're gambling with the lives of millions of people. You're gambling with World War III. |
| 0:48.7 | President Trump's message is very simple. We are done being taken advantage of. |
| 0:52.5 | Mr. President, in the name of our God, have mercy upon the people. |
| 0:56.8 | We're scared now. |
| 0:58.1 | Are you supportive of these onesies? |
| 1:00.0 | I'm supportive of vaccines. |
| 1:01.6 | What is happening? Like, this is not America. This is a terrible nightmare. |
| 1:06.0 | This is what victory feels like. |
| 1:09.4 | Yeah. |
| 1:23.4 | Thank you. what victory feels like. Yeah. Hello, it's Anthony here in Washington, D.C. And it's Justin in the worldwide headquarters of Ameriast in London, England, and we think we might be joined by Sarah at some stage going along, |
| 1:29.8 | but equally we might not, because let's face it, |
| 1:31.8 | it is a busy time if you are North America editor. |
| 1:35.4 | And also, I should say right at the start, |
... |
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