No 10 insists talks with US on tech deal ongoing amid reports of pause

Downing Street has insisted the UK is still in “active conversations” with the US on a technology prosperity deal after a report that the US had halted talks.

The deal was struck during US President Donald Trump’s state visit earlier in 2025, but there have been reports that Washington paused further negotiations on its implementation last week.

The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: “First of all, we remain in active conversations with US counterparts at all levels of government, and we’re confident of securing a deal that will shape the future of millions on both sides of the Atlantic.

“Our special relationship with the US remains strong and the UK is firmly committed to ensuring the tech prosperity deal delivers opportunity for hard-working people in both countries.”

He said he would not comment on the “live” negotiations but added: “Negotiations of this kind are never straightforward” and “both parties obviously want what’s best for their countries”.

Sir Keir Starmer and Mr Trump signed a memorandum of understanding on the deal in September, with pledges to work together in areas including AI, nuclear energy and quantum technology.

US tech companies also announced billions in spending in the UK, including £22bn from Microsoft and £5bn from Google, under the deal.

But US officials have reportedly expressed frustration with a lack of progress on wider trade talks that have been ongoing since May, when a deal was agreed to spare the UK from the worst of Mr Trump’s tariffs.

The New York Times reported that the UK’s digital services tax and food safety standards could be hampering progress, while the Financial Times also pointed to rules on industrial goods as a sticking point.

The memorandum on the tech deal noted it would become operative “alongside substantive progress being made to formalise and implement” the May agreement, known as the economic prosperity deal.

Downing Street rejected a suggestion that the signing of the agreement in September was performative given that negotiations are still going on.

“I don’t accept that at all,” the spokesman said.

“It was a firm commitment to ensuring a tech prosperity deal which delivers opportunity for hard-working people in this country.”

Another source of strain in UK-US relations was Mr Trump’s national security strategy, which claimed that Europe faced “civilisational erasure” and questioned whether the continent’s economies and militaries were strong enough for countries to remain reliable allies.

Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper defended the UK’s “strong and diverse communities” and the “centuries of civilisation we have to be proud of” when questioned about the White House’s strategy.

Ms Cooper told MPs at the Foreign Affairs Committee: “I think (it) wouldn’t surprise you that we’d take a different view on the strength of European democracies, the strength of our freedoms, our support for communities and our social cohesion as well.

“And I think if you want to talk about the centuries of civilisation that we have to be proud of, our cultural industries are stronger than they have ever been.

“It’s a more important part of our economy than it has ever been. We have strong and diverse communities who are proud to be British, who are an incredibly important part of the kind of country that we are, and we celebrate that, and will continue to do so.”

Ms Cooper also said she expected “all democracies to be respected”.

Asked how reliable a partner the US was to the UK given how different the countries’ world views were, she said there was a “strong shared interest” in economic and technological development, as well as agreement that European countries needed to contribute more to their defence.

She said she was clear with US officials about where views differed, for example “being very clear that I see strength in the way in which Europe is responding to Ukraine”.