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The United Kingdom Foreign Minister Rachel Reeves held her first formal conversations with the United States Secretary of the United States on Friday, Scott Besent, and both finance ministers agreed that there was a “landing zone” for a bilateral commercial agreement, according to British officials.
Reeves has opened the door to Great Britain by reducing its tariffs on cars made in the United States, along with agricultural and seafood products, while trying to persuade the Trump administration to reduce its taxes in the United Kingdom exports.
Besent looks within the Starmer government as a relatively misleading figure on tariffs, but there is recognition that commercial decisions are ultimately taken in the oval office. The United States has imposed a 10 percent reference rate for exports from the United Kingdom and a 25 percent tax in cars and steel.
The United Kingdom authorities said Reeves, that he had not met Besent before his trip to Washington this week, had maintained a “good discussion” with his American counterpart.
A person reported on the conversations, he said: “Both feel that there is an landing zone for a commercial agreement, but we are not there yet. The discussion has become more intense, so it is positive. The discussion will continue.”
In a reading published on Friday night, the Treasury said Besent, “he said the need for progress in fair and reciprocal trade” between the United States and the United Kingdom.
Reeves, in Washington for Spring Meetings of the World Bank and the IMF, has been praised by some of the world’s financial elite for its commitment to secondary free trade and supply reforms.
Kristalina Georgieva, managing director of the IMF, said: “She is addressing very difficult issues, obtaining the repairization of expenses, making the regulatory environment more rational and then assumes the battle to do so. And it is really impressive.”
But Reeves is much less popular at home, and opinion surveys that show that its terrible approval index has fallen even more in recent weeks.
Yougov reported this month that only 14 percent of respondents said they had a positive vision of the chancellor, with 62 percent with a negative vision. The -48 score represents the lowest reeves rating so far.
Reeves has sought this week to build relationships with the Trump administration noting that some of his concerns about the global commercial system were well founded.
Speaking at an event at the British embassy in Washington on Thursday night, Reeves argued that the United States was right to worry about excessive commercial imbalances, which highlights the “challenges” associated with the increase in China’s economy and benefits.
“The challenges of which Donald Trump’s administration has spoken, about global commercial imbalances, are very real, and we should address them,” he said in an event organized by Great Britain’s ambassador to the United States, Lord Peter Mandelson.
Reeves added that these commercial imbalances were not always associated with “transparent policies.”
But he emphasized in his meetings in Washington that the United Kingdom continued to believe in multilateral dialogue and institutions, and not in tariffs, emphasizing the undesibility of commercial wars.
