A ‘magnificent’ Trade Deal?
With its current EU trading relationship set to fundamentally change, the U.K. may look across the pond for a post-Brexit trade deal with the U.S.
Both Prime Minister Johnson and President Trump have spoken about their desire to negotiate an agreement, with President Trump promising a “magnificent” deal at a meeting in New York during the United Nations General Assembly back in September 2019.
Supporters of a deal have said an agreement could boost the $260 billion trading relationship between the countries, increasing the exchange of financial services, biotechnology, automobiles, and other professional services.
“The EU’s heavy regulatory hand has stifled Britain’s economy and hampered trade with the United States and the U.K.,” Rep. George Holding, R-N.C., a chair of the House U.K. Caucus, wrote in an article for CNN back in October last year, “but that could soon change.”
Despite trade deal supporters identifying several key areas of possible increased cooperation, the agreement could meet opposition in both nations.
“The Trump Administration undoubtedly hopes the U.K. will be willing to deviate from its current alignment with the EU on numerous regulatory issues,” Amanda Sloat, a Robert Bosch senior fellow at the Center on the United States and Europe at Brookings says “However, it is unclear how many concessions the U.K. will be prepared to make — especially in domestically sensitive areas like agriculture and health.”
Trump has said the U.K.’s National Health Service, which is state-owned and free at the point of entry, could be “on the table” in a future trade deal, which Johnson has repeatedly denied, but not everyone believes the prime minister. The NHS is a now 72-year-old institution fiercely defended in the U.K.
Although Trump has stated that a U.S.-U.K. trade deal could boost trade “four to five times higher than it is right now,” much like Johnson, some detractors doubt the honesty of such a statement.
Some left-leaning politicians in the UK feel any trade deal with the US is less likely to be a joint venture and more like the UK, with cap in hand, begging the US to help. Many believe Trump is going to squeeze Britain for everything he can.
