Badenoch blames Biden over trade failure

KEMI BADENOCH has accused President Joe Biden of derailing the UK’S hopes of a trade deal with the US.

The Business Secretary said the president was the reason Britain missed its target to secure free trade agreements (FTAS) covering 80pc of its trade with the rest of the world.

Speaking to MPS on the business and trade committee yesterday, Ms Badenoch said: “The biggest thing that has had an impact on us reaching that objective was the change in administration from President Trump to President Biden.”

Britain began negotiations for an FTA with the US in May 2020 in what would have been the UK’S first major new agreement since it left the European Union. But there have been no discussions since October 2020. The following month, Mr Biden won the presidential election.

Ms Badenoch said: “We were carrying out negotiations for a US FTA, but then the administration changed and the Biden administration is just not doing FTAS. What they have basically said is that they’re not doing FTAS with anybody.

“This isn’t about us, despite a lot of the narrative you might read in the press. It is just their strategy. They are not using free trade agreements.”

Instead, the US government is pursuing smaller packages on single issues, such as deals with India and Japan over the trade of critical minerals or semiconductors, Ms Badenoch said.

Although the Trump administration’s trade policies were broadly considered protectionist, the former president personally expressed a hope that a “very substantial” trade deal with the UK would boost trade between the two nations “three to four, five times” over.