Prime minister Keir Starmer has insisted the UK’s food standards have been respected in the UK’s trade deal with the US.
Speaking in the wake of the announcement this afternoon, Starmer said “we had red lines on standards on agriculture and we kept to those red lines on areas like SPS [Sanitary and Phytosanitary Standards]”, which had been “written into the agreement”.
US president Donald Trump announced the “breakthrough” deal with one of the US’s “most cherished allies” in a joint press conference with Starmer, who was dialling in from the UK. Starmer also hailed the announcement as a “fantastic, historic day”.
While full details are yet to be revealed, and US trade representatives are due in the UK next week for further discussions, the US president revealed the deal would cover $1bn worth of American exports, including American beef, ethanol, and other agricultural goods. It is understood concessions on US beef exports will pertain to high-quality beef only.
Responding to a question by the BBC on beef exports, Trump said the UK would be able to “take what they want”, adding that the US had “every type of classification you could have”. He added that Robert F Kennedy Jr, the US health secretary – was “probably” heading to a food production system similar to the UK’s “with no chemicals”.
US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick added the deal had opened up new market access for “virtually all products” from US farmers.
Agrifood standards
Ahead of the announcement, ministers were questioned in the House of Commons this morning on whether the deal would come with lower agrifood standards for US exports into the UK.
“We have been crystal clear. We have red lines in this,” said Defra secretary Steve Reed.
“We will not be allowing British farmers to be undercut on environmental or welfare standards.”
The prime minister’s official spokesman also said Labour “have always been clear on our red line when it comes to food standards”.
“We are not going to lower British food standards. That’s something set out in the manifesto.”
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Growth hormones are regularly used in US beef production, but the practice has been banned in Britain and the EU since the 1980s.
MPs have long pressed the current and previous governments not to compromise on agriculture and food standards when negotiating with the US, with the issue often emerging as a sticking point in trade talks throughout the years.
Leader of the House of Commons Lucy Powell also said food regulation concerns “have been red lines for governments” in recent discussions with Trump’s administration.
But the National Pig Association (NPA) has asked for “urgent clarity” on whether pork will receive the same protections, as it raised concerns over the ways pigs are farmed in the US – including the use of sow stalls, which have been banned in the UK since 1999.
The National Farmers Union has warned the government against allowing US products that don’t meet strict UK standards into the domestic market in exchange for lower car and steel levies.
Protecting British producers
The deal, earlier dubbed by Trump as “full and comprehensive”, is expected to cut tariffs on some agrifood products and make customs processes less onerous and expensive, according to the president.
The UK “will also be fast tracking American goods through their customs process, so our exports go to a very, very quick form of approval, and there won’t be any red tape,” he said.
NFU president Tom Bradshaw argued any deal that didn’t give British farmers the same kind of reciprocal access would be “an unimaginable failure”.
But today’s agreement focused largely on slashing tariffs on cars, steel, digital services and pharmaceuticals to ease trading burdens for the sectors most affected by Trump’s eye-watering tariffs.
Negotiations on reducing other US-imposed 10% tariffs across all sectors are expected to be continued in the near future, the PM’s spokesman said.
Trump said the final details of the agreement will be written up in the coming weeks. He added the deal will bring the UK into economic security alignment with the US, describing it as a “big economic security blanket”.
The Chartered Institute of Environmental Health (CIEH) has welcomed the news of a deal but urged the government to keep to its commitments on maintaining the UK’s high food standards.
CIEH president Mark Elliott said: “The lack of parliamentary scrutiny on the terms of this agreement ahead of it being signed is a concern and we will be looking closely at the deal to ensure no concessions have been made which could have an adverse impact on the UK’s high food and environmental standards.”
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