Downing Street will hope the cryptic but broadly positive noises from the White House keep coming, or at least don’t switch to the alternative, ahead of the prime minister’s trip to Washington expected soon.
As fellow European leaders put the boot in over all the tariff talk – Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk called it “stupid” – Sir Keir was much more circumspect.
Meanwhile, the negotiations with Brussels trundle on.
The minister responsible for them, Nick Thomas-Symonds, rolled up in Brussels shortly after the prime minister, claiming the government will be a “ruthlessly pragmatic negotiator.”
“The European Union is the UK’s biggest trading partner, with trade totalling – in 2023 – over £800bn,” Thomas-Symonds pointed out.
“A study published last year showed that between 2021 and 2023, the goods EU businesses export to the UK were down by 32%, while UK goods exports to the EU were down by 27%.
“That is not good for British business or European businesses, especially at a time when our economies need a kickstart,” he added.
The government wants agreements on plant and animal health to remove barriers to agricultural and food trade, and a deal on the mutual recognition of professional qualifications.
How much of this is achievable?
One senior figure described the French as “prickly fish” in some of the discussions and said Germany was “effectively out of action” until after its general election later this month.
And what might President Trump make of it all, with some in the UK advocating a deeper trading relationship with America and the spectre of tariffs still hovering if the president feels piqued?
Source:
www.bbc.com
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