30 May 2023

FT: UK has no plans to strike US trade deal during Rishi Sunak visit to Washington

Rishi Sunak is set to ignore calls to secure a UK-US trade deal when he visits Washington next week for a bilateral meeting with President Joe Biden. Talks to strike a post-Brexit trade deal were derailed by the Covid-19 pandemic and issues such as whether to allow some US agricultural products into the UK market.

Some members of the US Congress had hoped that the negotiations could be revived after Britain and the EU struck a deal over trading arrangements in Northern Ireland earlier this year, removing a huge source of tension between Washington and London. Brendan Boyle, a Democratic congressman from Pennsylvania, said in March that he hoped trade discussions would be held “in short order” as a result of the agreement — although the Biden administration has not prioritised forming full trade deals with other countries.

But when announcing Sunak’s trip to the US, Downing Street said on Tuesday the prime minister was not trying to secure a trade agreement, pointing out that bilateral trading relations were already strong. “We are not seeking to pursue a free trade deal with the US,” a spokesperson for Number 10 said. “It’s worth remembering the trade relationship, as it currently stands, is worth £279bn already. We have achieved all of that without an FTA.”

However, the spokesperson said the government would seek closer partnerships with some specific states, including Utah, Texas, California and Oklahoma. The UK has set up deals with North Carolina, Indiana and South Carolina. These state-by-state agreements have typically been “memoranda of understanding” to cut barriers to trade and paperwork while promising collaboration in areas such as clean tech and energy infrastructure. US states do not have the power to strike full trade deals with other sovereign nations, however, and so piecemeal agreements with individual states are potentially less lucrative for UK businesses than a full, congressionally approved trade agreement, which could include eliminating tariff barriers.

FT

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