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Senior U.S. official holds preliminary discussions with Britain on possible trade deal

Xinhua, July 15, 2016 Adjust font size:

A top U.S. trade official said Thursday that he has held preliminary discussions with British government officials about how the two countries might pursue a trade deal after Britain leaves the European Union (EU).

U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman said at a breakfast event that he had discussed a possible bilateral trade agreement with Sajid Javid and Mark Price, Britain's outgoing business and trade secretaries, earlier this week.

But he hasn't yet spoken with Liam Fox, incoming secretary for international trade in the British new government headed by Theresa May, who took over as new Prime Minister on Wednesday.

Froman said the future trade relations between the United States and Britain will partly depend on Britain's new relationship with the EU, which will be negotiated by Britain's new government in coming months following the country's referendum vote to leave the 28-nation bloc last month.

"Will they have sovereignty over tariffs, will they have sovereignty over regulations ... Until you get more clarity around that, it's hard to determine precisely what kind of trade relationship they might be able to negotiate with others," he said.

Froman's remarks come one day after House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Kevin Brady and Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch introduced a resolution calling on the Obama administration to begin discussions with Britain about a possible bilateral trade agreement.

The resolution also called on the administration to consult with Congress to promote further commercial activity and cooperation between the United States and Britain.

Chad Bown, a senior fellow at the Washington-based Peterson Institute for International Economics, said Britain should first negotiate a comprehensive trade agreement with the EU because roughly half of Britain exports go to the EU countries.

"Without such a deal, 72.8 percent of UK products exported to the EU would face a new import tariff that would increase from zero to an average of 7.3 percent," Bown wrote in a blog post on Tuesday. Endit