Ministers are considering how to secure an agreement that might exempt Britain from Trump’s tariffs
Ministers are redoubling their efforts to agree a trade deal with Donald Trump after he announced sweeping 10% tariffs on UK exports to the US.
Downing Street has said talks are at an “advanced stage” and officials have indicated that the broad outlines of a deal have been agreed.
It’s not the first time that the prospect of a UK free trade agreement with the US has been talked up. Brexiters have long touted such a deal as a prize of the UK leaving the EU, and it was a key ambition of Theresa May’s during Trump’s first administration.
Kim Darroch, who was ambassador at that time, said this week he was “quite cynical” about the prospects for a deal and that regardless of who is in power in Washington the US “try and strike a very tough deal on trade”.
There several potential stumbling blocks to an agreement. The government is focused on pursuing a relatively narrow deal focused on advanced technologies to avoid some of the pitfalls.Chlorinated chicken and hormone-treated beef
Reynolds revealed on Thursday that Trump’s administration had raised objections to the UK’s food safety standards during the talks.
Speaking to BBC Breakfast, he said that while it was not true – as Trump has claimed – that the UK imposed a 10% tariff on US goods, “they have an argument on the US side that there are other barriers to trade”.
“For example, we have a food standards regime which we’re very committed to in the UK which they have some objections to,” he said, stressing that Labour was standing by its manifesto commitment not to water down these standards.
