WASHINGTON – The fictional British spy James Bond tends to leave Aston Martin sports cars a little worse for wear while saving the world, but the iconic cars can keep skidding into the U.S. under a new trade deal with the United Kingdom.
President Donald Trump’s tariffs left worldwide trade shaken and stirred, as negotiations with other countries continue. The trade deal with the United Kingdom reduces Trump’s 25% tariffs imposed on foreign automobiles to 10% on the first 100,000 exported to the U.S.
“James Bond has nothing to worry about, that I can tell you,” Trump said to laughter in the Oval Office.
But Trump said he would decide later whether potential 100% tariffs on foreign films would die another day.
“We’re going to have a discussion on that, separately,” Trump said.
Trump noted that he was friends with Sean Connery, the late Scottish actor who was first to play Bond in film, after a dispute over his golf course development.
Trump has two courses in Scotland and ran into opposition for the one in Aberdeen, Scotland, where environmental and conservation groups raised concerns about sewage pollution and dune preservation. Neighbors called Trump a bully, but the president said Connery helped get him out of the rough.
“Sean Connery was a friend of mine. He was a great guy,” Trump said. “He said, ‘Let the bloody bloke build his golf courses.’”
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Trump says James Bond’s Aston Martins have ‘nothing to worry about’
