Connect with us

Published

on

Britain could do a slimmed down trade deal with the United States within months, the last politician to oversee negotiations with Donald Trump’s administration over a UK-US agreement has told Sky News.

Last night Sky News revealed that leading members of the Trump administration believe a trade deal with the UK could be sealed in a matter of months.

Mr Trump has singled out Keir Starmer for praise and suggested that he wanted to change UK trade policy.

Politics latest: Billions to be spent to increase state pension

Britain was negotiating a full Free Trade Agreement with Mr Trump during his first presidency, but this was junked by his successor President Biden.

The negotiations were overseen by then Tory trade secretary, Anne-Marie Trevelyan, who told Sky News that a deal could even be struck with the US before the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement is concluded.

Ms Trevelyan said about half the work on a deal had already been concluded under the Boris Johnson administration.

More from Politics

“I was the trade secretary just at the end of the first Trump administration, and we had already, been moving discussions, probably about halfway there. In terms of the trade negotiations.”

She said that the US can work faster than the EU on trade negotiations, and that might be concluded first.

Transport Secretary Anne-Marie Trevelyan walks outside Number 10 Downing Street, in London, Britain September 7, 2022. REUTERS/John Sibley
Image:
Former trade secretary Anne-Marie Trevelyan. Pic: Reuters

“I think absolutely that’s possible. I think the challenge with anything with the EU is you’re dealing with, you know, multiple countries who all have to agree. And the challenge with any trade deal, which is why TCA took a long time to negotiate to the level that we got, is that everyone’s pulling a little bit differently.”

On President Trump’s style, she said: “I think, realistically, because of the way Trump works, which is transactional but very determined, he’ll take decisions, big decisions.”

The negotiation between the UK and the US began in May 2020 when Liz Truss was trade secretary and lasted until the end of Mr Trump’s time in office in January 2021. Ms Trevelyan was trade secretary from September 2021 to September 2022.

Up to five chapters – areas of trade negotiation – had been completed but the most difficult, agriculture and trade, had not been sorted.

The United States has different food standards to the UK and EU, and is not currently able to sell into our market – which has previously been a big ask.

Trump latest: EU would respond ‘within an hour’ to Trump tariffs

However Ms Trevelyan said that omitting agriculture from the deal could get it over the line, providing there were sufficient other wins for the US.

She said that the UK and US trade deal could make a big difference.

“A UK-US trade move will be a big, punchy, broad ranging trade deal,” she said.

👉Listen to Politics At Jack And Sam’s on your podcast app👈

“I think what’s important is what are we good at? What’s the UK good at? What do we want to be able to do more? Our financial services, second only in the world to the US, are fantastic.

“(You look for) lots of things where we don’t crash into each other. Really important for success in a trade deal is where you get that complementarity.

“What is it that the US has that they want to sell to us that, you know, isn’t of concern to us? So some of the conversations with California around some of their nuts and properties like that, there’s all sorts of different pulls and pushes that you work together as a whole.”

She went on: “It’ll be everything from financial services through to whisky and everything in between. The market is enormous, important issues around metals, steel and aluminium are really important ones. So, we had got caught, when I had just come into post, actually an EU tariff last time round that President Trump was putting tariffs on people around steel aluminium.”

But Lord Kim Darroch, the UK’s ambassador to the US during Donald Trump’s first presidency, said he was sceptical about a UK-US trade deal.

Speaking to Sophy Ridge on the Politics Hub, Lord Darroch said the UK’s problems stem from the fact that food and agriculture standards are higher here than they are in the US.

He explained that there are “two big regulatory schemes” in the world, one being the EU’s and the other being America’s.

“At the moment, we are still basically aligned with the EU,” he said.

“One of the objectives of the Americans would be to pull us into their regulatory system,” he adds, and – given we do more far more trade with Europe than America – “I don’t see that being in the national interest.”

Continue Reading

Politics

Why Boris’s best mate is off to Reform

Published

on

By

Why Boris's best mate is off to Reform

👉Listen to Politics at Sam and Anne’s on your podcast app👈       

Former Conservative chairman and friend of Boris Johnson – Sir Jake Berry – is defecting to Reform UK, causing more problems for Tory leader Kemi Badenoch.

On today’s episode, Sky News’ Sam Coates and Politico’s Anne McElvoy discuss if his defection will divide parts of Reform policy.

Elsewhere, the Anglo-French summit gets under way, with Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer hoping to announce a migration deal with French President Emmanuel Macron to deter small boat crossings.

Plus, chatter around Whitehall that No10 are considering a pre-summer reshuffle, but will it have any value?

Continue Reading

Politics

Australia to test CBDCs, stablecoins in next stage of crypto play

Published

on

By

Australia to test CBDCs, stablecoins in next stage of crypto play

Australia to test CBDCs, stablecoins in next stage of crypto play

The trial is part of Project Acacia, an initiative from the RBA exploring how digital money and tokenization could support financial markets in Australia.

Continue Reading

Politics

Starmer and Macron agree need for ‘new deterrent’ to stop small boat crossings

Published

on

By

Starmer and Macron agree need for 'new deterrent' to stop small boat crossings

Sir Keir Starmer and Emmanuel Macron have agreed the need for a “new deterrent” to deter small boats crossings in the Channel, Downing Street has said.

The prime minister met Mr Macron this afternoon as part of the French president’s state visit to the UK, which began on Tuesday.

High up the agenda for the two leaders is the need to tackle small boat crossings in the Channel, which Mr Macron said yesterday was a “burden” for both the UK and France.

Politics latest: Plans for Donald Trump UK visit in ‘coming weeks’

The small boats crisis is a pressing issue for the prime minister, given that more than 20,000 migrants crossed the English Channel to the UK in the first six months of this year – a rise of almost 50% on the number crossing in 2024.

Sir Keir is hoping he can reach a deal for a one-in one-out return treaty with France, ahead of the UK-France summit on Thursday, which will involve ministerial teams from both nations.

The deal would see those crossing the Channel illegally sent back to France in exchange for Britain taking in any asylum seeker with a family connection in the UK.

More on Emmanuel Macron

However, it is understood the deal is still in the balance, with some EU countries unhappy about France and the UK agreeing on a bilateral deal.

French newspaper Le Monde reports that up to 50 small boat migrants could be sent back to France each week, starting from August, as part of an agreement between Sir Keir and Mr Macron.

A statement from Downing Street said: “The prime minister met the French President Emmanuel Macron in Downing Street this afternoon.

“They reflected on the state visit of the president so far, agreeing that it had been an important representation of the deep ties between our two countries.

“Moving on to discuss joint working, they shared their desire to deepen our partnership further – from joint leadership in support of Ukraine to strengthening our defence collaboration and increasing bilateral trade and investment.”

It added: “The leaders agreed tackling the threat of irregular migration and small boat crossings is a shared priority that requires shared solutions.

“The prime minister spoke of his government’s toughening of the system in the past year to ensure rules are respected and enforced, including a massive surge in illegal working arrests to end the false promise of jobs that are used to sell spaces on boats.

Read more:
Can PM turn diplomatic work with Macron into action on migration?
UN criticises Starmer’s welfare reforms

“The two leaders agreed on the need to go further and make progress on new and innovative solutions, including a new deterrent to break the business model of these gangs.”

Chris Philp, the shadow home secretary, seized on the statement to criticise Labour for scrapping the Conservatives’ Rwanda plan, which the Tories claim would have sent asylum seekers “entering the UK illegally” to Rwanda.

He said in an online post: “We had a deterrent ready to go, where every single illegal immigrant arriving over the Channel would be sent to Rwanda.

“But Starmer cancelled this before it had a chance to start.

“Now, a year later, he’s realised he made a massive mistake. That’s why numbers have surged and this year so far has been the worst in history for illegal channel crossings.

“Starmer is weak and incompetent and he’s lost control of our borders.”

Continue Reading

Trending