The Prosperity Trap: Inside Britain’s Tech Deal with Trump’s America

How a desperate bid to avoid tariffs became a case study in 21st-century dependency

The signing ceremony on 18 September had all the visual choreography of a diplomatic triumph. Donald Trump, fresh from threatening his country’s allies with crippling tariffs, sat beside Keir Starmer as they announced an “unbreakable bond”.

Britain would receive $42bn in technology investment. America would gain something harder to quantify but potentially more valuable: a laboratory for demonstrating how less powerful countries might subordinate their digital futures to Silicon Valley’s priorities.

The official narrative made for alluring headlines. Two allies joining forces to lead the world in artificial intelligence. Microsoft committing $30bn. Nvidia deploying 120,000 cutting-edge GPUs. Thousands of jobs in Britain’s poorest regions. Who would object to prosperity?

But examine the agreement’s fine print – and the dependencies it creates – and a different story emerges.

This isn’t simply about investment or technology. It’s about how vulnerable countries navigate a world where economic security, energy independence and digital sovereignty have become inseparable.