|
|
[...] One ally said that ultimately a trade deal on goods might be of “little value” and that the challenge was to unlock a services agreement, including financial services, adding: “That’s the big one.”
Meanwhile, the British Chambers of Commerce has told the Financial Times that it is “uneasy” over an early accord between London and Washington, partly because of fears that US companies with less onerous domestic regulation could out-compete their UK rivals.
The stakes are high. Mr Fox’s promise of a swift and lucrative UK-US trade deal was offered as one of the biggest prizes of Britain leaving the EU, which is scheduled to take place in March 2019.
[...]The US move last month to propose tariffs of more than 200 per cent on the C Series passenger jet made by Canada’s Bombardier, whose wings are made in Belfast, was a sign of the Trump administration’s tough trade strategy.
Any serious negotiations between the UK and the US on a trade deal are unlikely to start until 2019, when it becomes clearer to Washington what sort of access to the EU market the UK negotiates.
Mr Fox’s Department for International Trade declined to say whether goods and farm products would definitely be part of a trade deal with the US. “It’s too early to say exactly what would be covered in a comprehensive future deal,” it said.
It added that a joint trade working group was “looking at where we can deepen ties across the board, both for trade in goods and including increasing access for the strong and competitive UK services sector”. [...]
Full article on Financial Times (subscription required)