US trade deal: Penny Mordaunt highlights UK tactic to target ‘20% of US economy’ | United Kingdom | News UK News

The Trade Secretary described Brexit as a huge opportunity for the UK and countries like the US sharing a common vision. Ms Mordaunt revealed that while London and Washington DC are in the sixth round of free trade agreement negotiations at the federal level, most of the opportunities lie in individual US states.

She said: “We left the EU. There’s a lot of criticism about that. We’re still discussing some of the issues with that, but it’s a huge opportunity for us, but also for countries like the United States who share our vision of capitalism.”

Ms. Mordaunt explained that 93% of US growth is generated by certain metropolitan areas. She therefore felt it was a good idea to focus attention on it while the UK and the US continue to negotiate a free trade agreement.

The minister told MPs on Thursday that Britain is expected to sign its first economic pacts with US states in May with an agreement with Texas concluded by October.

She told fellow parliamentarians that the first eight deals in the works would be worth 20% of the US economy.

Ms Mordaunt told GB News on Sunday: ‘The things we are doing at state level are going to remove barriers to trade. At the end of the day it’s about bringing people together – people, money and ideas for solving problems, creating new business opportunities.

“That’s what we’re trying to do, so we have to work hard. We have to restore those links.

“In the US we are currently talking to 20 states. This will be a growing number. This is important. It will reduce costs for businesses. It will open up new business opportunities for UK businesses and make it easier for them to provide goods and services in the United States.”

She added that the government is also matching states or large cities with parts of the UK looking for opportunities.

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Britain has been pursuing an FTA with the administrations of former US President Donald Trump and current incumbent President Joe Biden for some years.

Katherine Tai, the US counterpart to UK Trade Secretary Anne-Marie Trevelyan, appeared to pour cold water on the prospect of a trade deal in March, telling a news conference that such a deal was a “very 20th century tool”.

Experts have suggested that Mr. Biden is not very interested in free trade agreements and more concerned with promoting good quality jobs in the United States, restoring the country’s lead in technologies. cutting edge and, if possible, strategic independence from China.

Dr Peter Holmes, a fellow at the UK Trade Policy Observatory at the University of Sussex, said Express.co.uk earlier this month: “Biden doesn’t think opening US markets to UK exports is the top trade policy priority. They’re not interested in liberalizing trade.”

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With progress stalled on a UK-US free trade deal, the government has turned its attention to reaching deals with individual states.

On Britain’s global role, Ms Mordaunt said: “When people tell me what our role in the world is, I say it’s to be ourselves and actually Ukraine – the situation there – reminds us of who we are as a nation and what we have to offer – this gathering power for people, money and ideas – to bring these things together.

“We hate to see bullies. We want to stand up for freedom and we are moved and motivated when we see courage in others and that is what our country is about.

“We can do a lot, whether it’s trade, national security or defence, as we are in Ukraine.”

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Boris Johnson has told negotiators to strike a free trade deal with India by Diwali in October as he celebrated a ‘massive push’ in a meeting with the leader of the country, Narendra Modi, in New Delhi on Friday.

But he told a press conference that he had not sought to encourage Mr Modi to go further in abandoning India’s neutrality in the face of the Russian president’s invasion of Ukraine.

Mr Johnson admitted there would be tough issues ahead, including on tariffs, particularly on whisky.

He also signaled his readiness to accept higher levels of migration from India for skilled jobs in Britain.

He said an FTA would allow Delhi to lift tariffs on British machinery and in turn the UK could lift tariffs on Indian rice and textiles.

The prime minister also pledged to support India in building fighter jets in a bid to reduce the number of weapons the country buys from Moscow and also wants to wean off Russian fuel.

But Indian Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla said Mr Johnson had not exerted any pressure on Mr Modi over his stance on the Russian invasion of Ukraine.