UK trade minister to visit US this week for talks on tariffs

LONDON, Dec 8 (Reuters) - Britain's trade minister will visit the United States this week for trade talks, after announcing a deal that would eliminate tariffs on pharmaceutical and medical products in return for the UK agreeing to pay higher prices for new drugs.

Britain became the first country to agree a deal to cut some of U.S. President Donald Trump's tariffs in May, but the implementation of the agreement has progressed slowly, on a sector-by-sector basis.

While the deal has cut the tariffs faced by UK automakers, talks to reduce levies on steel have not been finalised, while there have been few details of when the framework deal on pharmaceuticals, clinched last week, will come into effect.

"This visit is about turning ambition into action - progressing our trade deal and securing the investment that will power growth," Peter Kyle, the Business and Trade Secretary, said ahead of the trip.

His office said he would fly to Washington on Tuesday to hold talks with Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer about progressing May's agreement, known as the Economic Prosperity Deal (EPD).

Kyle will then fly to San Francisco on Wednesday for talks with tech and financial services firms, including Google, PayPal and autonomous driving firm Wayve.

A former tech minister, Kyle was involved in talks to secure over $40 billion in investments into Britain through a tech pact with the U.S. to boost ties in AI, quantum computing and civil nuclear energy, announced during Trump's state visit in September.

(Reporting by Alistair Smout; Editing by Catarina Demony)