An era-defining U.S.-UK trade deal on May 8, 2025 could bring American farmers $5 billion.
Echoing a landmark UK-India pact, the agreement happened on Victory in Europe (VE) Day, which commemorates the Allied WWII victory.
In a White House statement, the U.S. President Donald Trump said that “the deal includes billions of dollars…especially in agriculture.”
While the concession concentrates on steel, vehicles and aerospace components from the UK., agriculture enjoys key trade offs.
For one, the United States will boost its ethanol export value to $700 million, targeting Britain’s rising biofuel utility.
Farmers in the UK are however viewing the increase of biofuel imports as a threat to their arable crops. They also feel that agriculture is becoming a lever for shouldering the burdens of other tariff-hit industries.
Beef’s Red Line
Beef and other agricultural goods will make up a joint $250 million in new export opportunities for the American side.
The UK will benefit from a 13,000-tonne quota of tariff-free American beef imports, mirroring ethanol.
However, the UK will maintain a red line on hormone-treated trans-Atlantic beef, per the Evening Standard.
Downing Street has also won a reciprocal beef export allowance to the U.S. after many years of trying.
Duty scrapping will add $5 billion to all U.S.’ exports to the UK, which stood at $148 billion in 2024.
10% Tariff
Although the new concession is mutually agreeable, certain goods will still retain a tariff line of 10%.
The UK applies an average 9.2% on American agricultural imports while its partner doubled the tariff to 10% on April 2.
There are also tariffs that the U.S. terms as unfair. These include the 125% duty the UK applies on outbound red meat and dairy products.
It was to redress this “unfairness” that Washington on April 2 enforced 10% tariffs, worldwide.
Iowa’s Trade Deal
Tariffs aside, the federal food basket, Iowa, is celebrating the trade pact for it favors the state’s ethanol industry.
Senators from the state including Joni Ernst applauded the President on X for creating new markets for Iowa.
Could the U.S.-UK trade deal reduce the huge agricultural trade deficit facing the U.S.? The statistics below indirectly answer this question by examining historical agri-food exports by the U.S. to the UK.
U.S.-UK Ag Trade Statistics
The United States courts an Ag trade deficit of $49 billion in 2025. Thus, a major deal with the UK comes opportunely. In 2024, the UK imported $2.18 billion worth of farm goods from the U.S., the 13th biggest of any country.
Trade in numbers:
Average UK ag imports from the U.S.: $1.97 billion annually, between 2021 and 2023.
Growth rate of the UK market for American Ag goods: 0.87% between 2015 and 2024.
Leading UK agricultural imports from the U.S.: ethanol, tree nuts, wine, spirits and food preparations. The following table, courtesy of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, illustrates the data.
| U.S.’ Ag Produce/Product | Total UK Import Value [[2015-24 annual average] | Tonnage [Tonnes] |
| Food preparations | $100,800,000 | 7,865 |
| Spirits from distillation | $137,060,000 | – |
| Wines and related | $163,810,000 | – |
| Tree nuts | $202,440,000 | 36,627 |
| Ethanol | $535,120,000 | – |
Have all Ag exports from the U.S. to the UK grown in the past decade?
Only ethanol exports to the UK at 151,270% growth rate improved in the 2015-24 period, among American agricultural goods. All the rest averaged negative growth of between -2% for tree nuts at the highest and -42% for wine at the lowest.