US President Trump held a press conference at the White House last night, announcing an important trade agreement with the United Kingdom that would further open the US market to British products, while the UK would also remove many non-tariff barriers to allow US products to quickly pass through British customs. He posted on Truth Social:
Today is an incredible day for the United States because we have reached the first fair, open, and reciprocal trade agreement - something past presidents never cared about.
We have reached a historic trade agreement with our strong ally, the United Kingdom, the first since D-Day. As part of this agreement, the United States will increase external revenue by $6 billion through a 10% tariff, create $5 billion in new export opportunities for our great ranchers, farmers, and producers, and strengthen national security between the US and the UK by establishing aluminum and steel trade zones and secure pharmaceutical supply chains...
Specific details include:
- The current 25% tariff on British car exports to the US will be significantly reduced, with steel and aluminum import tariffs dropping to zero
- The UK will cancel or reduce the 2% digital sales tax on US tech giants like Amazon, and lower tariffs on US agricultural products...
Trump stated that more agreement details will be announced in the coming weeks, marking the first trade agreement since his "D-Day" tariff announcement. Additionally, Trump claimed at the press conference that he expects US representatives to have a "pleasant weekend" in negotiations with Chinese representatives, which is seen as sending a positive signal about US-China trade talks.
US Stock Indices Rise
This progress eased investor tensions, boosting major US stock indices on Thursday:
- Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 254.48 points or 0.62%, closing at 41,368.45
- S&P 500 Index increased 32.66 points or 0.58%, closing at 5,663.94
- Nasdaq Index rose 189.98 points or 1.07%, closing at 17,928.14
- Philadelphia Semiconductor Index gained 44.08 points or 1.00%, closing at 4,430.44
Bitcoin Climbs to $104,000
Bitcoin experienced a significant surge, breaking through $100,000 for the first time since February, reaching a high of $104,295 this morning and currently trading at $102,734.
Petr Kozyakov, CEO of Mercuryo, commented:
Bitcoin has been performing strongly in recent weeks, outperforming other digital tokens and largely unaffected by geopolitical events in Asia and the Middle East that would have previously impacted it.
With gold performing well throughout the year, there's reason to believe Bitcoin may have proven itself as an economic hedge and long-term store of value.
Meanwhile, Ben Caselin, Marketing Director at VALR, believes Bitcoin could break $110,000 in the short term. He stated: "Retail investors typically enter during the second half of Bitcoin's four-year cycle, potentially reaching a macro peak in the fourth quarter of this year." He also mentioned that global cryptocurrency regulation progress and various strategic Bitcoin reserve plans could lay the groundwork for long-term growth after 2025.
