A trade agreement between the United Kingdom and the United States is facing scrutiny after a new analysis suggested it could lead to more than 200,000 avoidable deaths in England. By diverting billions of pounds away from essential health services to cover the costs of new medicines, the deal is being framed by critics as a dangerous gamble with public health. Per CNN, the deal was struck in December to avoid punitive tariffs threatened by President Trump.
Under the terms of this arrangement, the UK agreed to increase its spending on new medicines from 0.3% of GDP to at least 0.6% over the next decade. In exchange, the outlet stated that the US committed to avoiding levies on British exports of medical devices and pharmaceutical products for three years. This is after Trump allegedly threatened tariffs as high as 100% on some medicines imported into the US back in September.
