Ƶ Publishes UK-U.S. Free Trade Agreement Roadmap
16 October 2020
Contact: Dominic Parker, Communications Manager dparker@babinc.org | 020 7290 9882 | +44 7500 115352
London – Today, BritishAmericanBusiness launched its latest paper,Chartinga Course: A Roadmap to a Comprehensive UK-U.S. Free Trade Agreement, setting out貹ٳto achievinga comprehensive Free Trade Agreement (FTA) being agreed by the United Kingdom and United States.
Reaching a comprehensive Free Trade Agreement between the United Kingdom (UK) and the United States (U.S.) is one of the most ambitious and significant political projects in the transatlantic corridor.The negotiations enjoy much positive momentum and the UK’s and U.S.’s commitment and preparation have allowed for unprecedented speed in the talks. Yet, events such as the U.S. elections, the UK’s negotiations with the EU, and the upcoming renewal of the U.S. Trade Promotion Authority in July 2021 will have a significant impact on the UK-U.S. FTA negotiation timeline.
Drawing on years of extensive work thatBritishAmericanBusiness and its members have done in support offurther transatlantic integration,this papertakesinto consideration key events and issues that define what may be achieved in these talks, and by when.
The papersets outbroadrecommendations for both UK and U.S. governments, such as:
- Reaching a credible negotiation stage ahead of the U.S. elections and a schedule for when to talks continue after,regardless of the outcome of the U.S. elections.
- Taking action to help reduce unnecessary transatlantic tensionsand barrierscreated byU.S. tariffs on British productsin context of the WTO subsidy dispute, the further implementation of the Digital Tax in the UK andthe currenttravelrestrictions to thetransatlanticcorridor.
- An announcement by governments on progress made on key areas in the agreement, such as a Digital Trade chapter or a comprehensive Small Business chapter.
- Increasing efforts tomake a local, tangible and specific case for the trade deal andrespondingto questions in the wider public.
- Reaching an agreement in April 2021 ahead of the renewal of the U.S.’sTrade Promotion Authority(TPA).
Emanuel Adam, Executive Director London, Director of Policy & Trade, Ƶ said:
“Charting a Coursereflects some of the key issues that currentlyshapethe scope, momentum, timeline and environment for the trade talksbetween the UK and the U.S. Putting them incontext of each other establishes a roadmap.
“Addressing the issues that arepart of itwill be crucial if we wanted to achievea comprehensive trade deal in time.A comprehensive UK-U.S. FTA offers the opportunity to strengthen what is already one of the most important economic relationships on earth. Wehope that this documentis reference and a source of encouragement for all those involved.”
Click here to readCharting a Course: A Roadmap to a Comprehensive UK-U.S. Free Trade Agreement