Business Secretary sets out ambition to build on momentum of State Visit

Speech today at Lancaster House in London by Business and Trade Secretary Peter Kyle

I have to say I walked into this illustrious building and the first thing that Secretary Lutnick said was “it is quite like my flat.” We now need to see evidence, or next time we have these meetings we can do it in your home.

I am sure everyone would agree that this State Visit has been a remarkable and memorable few days.

Mr. Secretary Lutnick, Director Michael Kratsios, and all of our guests from the United States, on behalf of His Majesty's Government, you are very, very welcome.

Your presence here tonight, and in Britain this week, is an honour and, as valued friends and trusted colleagues, thank you for coming here.

Mr. Secretary Lutnick, Howard, I am very grateful for the decisive role that you have played in securing our Economic Prosperity Deal earlier this year. Thank you.

A deal which lowers tariffs and protects jobs in the automotive, the steel, the aluminium, the aerospace and the agricultural sectors. With your leadership, Britain has been able to be the very first country in the world to successfully negotiate such an agreement and it is also the best agreement.

Our agreement shows that, for President Trump, the “art of the deal” is more than just rhetoric, it is the beating heart of his presidency.

It is a vindication of the cool-headed approach adopted by both nations and advocated for by our  Prime Minister, Keir Starmer, right from the very start.

The Tech Prosperity Deal, signed today, is more than just a diplomatic nicety. It is a signal that the special relationship between our two countries means business.

In 1944, my very celebrated predecessor as President of the Board of Trade, Churchill, first coined the phrase “special relationship” to describe the US-UK partnership.

Formed at a time of war, sustained in times of peace, strengthened in times of adversity, the special relationship today is about the future prosperity of both of our countries.

It is about the new technology enhancing the lives and the life chances of both of our peoples.

It is the future, and it is founded on the strength of our shared, mutual friendship.    

Looking around this room, I see leaders of so many brilliant businesses. I want to convey my appreciation, not just for your presence, but for being so invested in modernising the special relationship, ensuring that it is relevant today  and into the future.

The fact that we are joined tonight by His Royal Highness, the Duke of Gloucester, the Deputy Prime Minister, our Chancellor Rachel Reeves, we have the Secretary of State for DSIT, the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, and so many ministers and Cabinet ministers from across Government. It is testament to the scale and ambition that we invest as this Government in the special relationship.

Even before the State Visit, the trading and investment relationship between our two nations was completely unrivalled.

Bilateral investment alone stood at $1.5 trillion.

And over the last few days, we have added around $300bn to that total. That is almost a third of a trillion dollars being added by the partnerships announced this week.

And we have secured record-breaking US investment across key growth sectors in our economy. We're seeing big investments in financial services from CitiBank, from Bank of America and BlackRock announcing ambitious expansion plans, creating thousands of jobs from Belfast through to Edinburgh.

We're seeing new commercial partnerships being formed in our nuclear industry – with X-energy and Centrica building 12 advanced modular reactors in Hartlepool. And Amentum expanding its UK workforce by 50%.

Prologis are ploughing £3bn into state-of-the-art biometric campuses in Cambridge – it is a massive win for our life sciences sector. 

During the State Visit, big-hitting British businesses like GSK have announced an extra $30billion of investment into the development of and manufacturing in the United States, and that will happen over the course of the next five years.

And the National Grid has affirmed billions of dollars worth of investment into American businesses over the same period of time. They are working with Emerald AI's Conductor platform and NVIDIA to drive super-efficient energy consumption right through the economy.

Sage, one of the UK's major listed companies, are making significant long-term investments into the US market: $2.3 billion in spending over the next three years.

So, transatlantic trade is good for America and it is good for Britain. It is the life blood of the special relationship. 

The latest iteration, the Tech Prosperity Deal, unlocks growth from the very best of companies. It will endure and it will ensure the technologies will be defining the next 100 years – from AI to quantum computing – and build out our special relationship's commitment to democracy and liberty, enhanced by our close security, regulatory and commercial cooperation.

The Deal goes further by increasing capital flows which will help companies here in the UK and the US not just to build and do business, but to scale and scale at speed.

Increased bilateral investment in technology holds the potential to create thousands of jobs and add billions of pounds to our economies.

That's why, when I moved to the Business and Trade job, the very first thing I did was to fly to Washington to close the deal for the Technology Partnership.

And I want to share and thank the many, many people across businesses and across Government here who informed these discussions. Months of determined work have paid off for the UK and the USA.

Together with the Economic Prosperity Deal, this partnership will secure success for our trillion-dollar tech sectors in the 21st century.

My focus now is ensuring that we build on that momentum.

I want us to dive into the delivery of this partnership with even greater determination than its design and its deployment.

By doing so, we will be writing the next exciting chapter in our special relationship: where we make it easier than ever before for Britain and America to do business and to make, sell, invest, and to grow.

Our history shows, that when the two great countries work together there is nothing beyond our reach.

That was shown in the beaches of Normandy at D-Day and in the defeat of fascism.

It was shown in the discovery of the DNA structure – a collaboration between British and American scientists – that laid the groundwork for the genetic research that revolutionised medicine. 

And it was shown in the transformation of global communications - with American internet foundations and British World Wide Web – that led the way to the digital world that we now live.

And now, with the deals that we have secured, with the partnerships that we have agreed, we can be confident that the future of the special relationship is now stepping up a gear.

Thanks to the brilliant businesses that are here today – those who work and trade across the Atlantic – the special relationship endures and it strengthens and thrives. The transatlantic businesses and the opportunities that we created will be transformative into the future and I couldn't be more excited and proud at that proposal.