“Boris must be careful.”
Britain’s Premier Johnson had promised the British big trade deals after the EU exit. But now the US government is dampening his hopes.
Global Britain still has to wait: The Brexit supporters had promised the people a trading nation like in the Empire. But nothing will happen so quickly with the corresponding agreements that Great Britain wanted to conclude with the EU and the United States. Four years after the British vote on Brexit, no agreement is in sight.
The American negotiator, Robert Lighthizer, told the British what the reality was last week: “You know how long it normally takes to negotiate such contracts,” said the President-in-Office of Commerce, referring to the US election in November. “Theoretically you could agree on a mini deal. But it’s supposed to be something big. It is unrealistic to negotiate this before the election and also to bring it to the congress.”
Prime Minister Boris Johnson and his government are caught up in the harsh reality because the Brexit negotiations with the EU are also stuck. The preparatory rounds between the Americans and the British for a free trade agreement have been running since July 2017, the official talks since May this year. The Americans have formulated their negotiation goal clearly: They are concerned with better-paid jobs in America and the growth of the US economy.
And the British should meet the following requirements for this: full market access for the USA in Great Britain; no obstacles due to regulatory requirements which – like the EU standards – go beyond the minimum requirements of the World Trade Organization; Opening up the UK healthcare market for approval of American – and therefore more expensive – pharmaceuticals; Opening up the UK market to American meat exports, making the sector more lenient than the EU requires; Opening of the UK market to tenders for American companies.
US President Donald Trump had already warned Boris Johnson six months ago that this would only work if the British government did not accept the conditions of the EU: “We want to deal with Britain,” Trump said in November 2019 the deal “- Trump means the political declaration Johnson and the EU have agreed on the future structure of mutual trade relations -” and certain aspects of this agreement we cannot do it. Boris must be careful! ” So if Johnson deals too much with the conditions of Brussels in the context of a trade agreement with the EU, especially with a view to regulatory provisions – the so-called level playing field – this will prevent an agreement that would be interesting for the Americans.