Trade Explainer: A Comparison of US Agreements With the EU, the United Kingdom, and Japan

The Trump administration’s sweeping changes in early 2025 have reshaped the global trading landscape with unprecedented speed. Following the president’s 90-day suspension of “retaliatory” tariffs in April, governments raced to secure bilateral agreements with Washington before the clock ran out. Although the White House fell short of its goal of striking 90 deals in 90 days, it succeeded in concluding a series of framework agreements with partners including the EU, Indonesia, Pakistan, the Philippines, South Korea, the United Kingdom, and Vietnam. Each deal set a revised baseline tariff rate, lowering the steeper duties initially proposed in return for targeted concessions and new investment and purchase commitments.  

As the specifics of these framework agreements are fleshed out and detailed negotiations begin, this analysis compares three deals: the US-UK Economic Prosperity Deal (EPD), the first agreement to be announced; the US-Japan Strategic Trade and Investment Agreement; and the US-EU Framework on an Agreement for Reciprocal, Fair, and Balanced Trade, unveiled just ahead of the August 1 deadline. How do these deals compare, and what do they reveal about the future direction of allied trade relations?