(The Center Square) – Count North Carolina among the winners for enhanced trade alignment between the United States and the United Kingdom.
President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced the deal on Thursday, the 80th anniversary of Victory Day for World War II. The 78-year-old second-term Republican president noted agriculture exports, and the 62-year-old Labour Party leader praised protection and creation of jobs. Both said there is enhanced market access, all of which benefits already robust activity between the state and country.
British capital investment since 2014 exceeds $1.5 billion, says the public-private Economic Development Partnership of North Carolina created by state lawmakers. This includes more than 4,450 jobs and 54 expansions or new companies, lifting the totals to 293 British firms operating in the state and over 23,000 people working for United Kingdom companies.
Pharmaceuticals and medicines, aerospace products and parts, and electrical accessories and parts – including for vehicles – have been staples of North Carolina goods going across the Atlantic. Agriculture products, the state’s No. 1 industry, is fourth on the list. Financial, management and consulting, and activity related to bank lending lead the services sector exports to the United Kingdom.
Estimates on the value of trade between the country and the state are in the $2.5 billion to $3 billion range. Exports from the United Kingdom to North Carolina were about $1.9 billion in the most recent 10 years, and $1.1 billion from North Carolina to the United Kingdom.
North Carolina has several drivers with the British and other countries. The 2.25% corporate income tax is on the way to elimination by 2030; the bond rating is AAA for the Big 3 of Standard & Poor’s Global, Fitch and Moody’s; and electricity costs are nearly 20% lower than the national average. The manufacturing workforce is ranked No. 1 in the Southeast; total labor force exceeds 5.2 million; and colleges and universities number 110.
In 2022, then-Gov. Roy Cooper and Penny Mordaunt, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland minister for international trade, signed a memorandum of understanding for cooperation and trade relations. She noted Honeywell and LabCorp among national players and said the UK “is continuing to seek out ways to remove barriers to trade at a state level as part of a wider U.S. trade strategy.”
The White House release says the deal “maximizes the competitiveness and secures the supply chain of U.S. aerospace manufacturers through preferential access to high-quality U.K. aerospace components,” and “creates a secure supply chain for pharmaceutical products.”
On the former, North Carolina is home to HAECO Americas, Collins Aerospace, Honda Aircraft Company, Lockheed Martin and Spirit AeroSystems. For the latter, heavyweights in the state are Novo Nordisk, Pfizer, GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), Merck and Eli Lilly.
