INSIDE BORIS’ TRADE TALKS WITH TRUMP
DONALD TRUMP is “very gung-ho” about a major UKUS trade deal, Boris Johnson said after the two leaders had their first formal meeting.
The Prime Minister was praised by the US President as the “right man for the job” of delivering Brexit and was promised a “very big trade deal” as the pair met in the margins of the G7 summit in Biarritz.
But Mr Johnson played down the prospects of a transatlantic deal being concluded within a year, as he believes Washington wants.
He warned that a deal with the “protectionist” US would not be “plain sailing”.
In a sign of the close relationship between the two leaders, Mr Trump said he had long held his positive views on Mr Johnson’s suitability for being Prime Minister, which “didn’t make your predecessor very happy”.
Both leaders were keen to stress their desire for a trade deal after the UK has left the European Union after a working breakfast at which they were served seasonal fruits, assorted pastries, scrambled eggs, veal sausages and toast.
The President said: “We’re going to do a very big trade deal, bigger than we’ve ever had with the UK, and now at some point they won’t have the obstacle, they won’t have the anchor around their ankle, because that’s what they have.”
But Mr Johnson has raised a series of areas where he wants concessions from Washington.
The President said he wanted a deal done “quickly” because in the past he had been “stymied” under Theresa May.
He added: “This is a different person and this is a person that’s going to be a great Prime Minister, in my opinion.”
But Mr Johnson told the President there would be “tough talks” ahead.
Asked if he had made clear his views on protecting the NHS and animal welfare standards in trade talks with Mr Trump, the Prime Minister said: “Not only have I made
clear of that, the President has made that very, very clear. There is complete unanimity on that point.”
The Prime Minister also warned Mr Trump against escalating his trade war with China.
“We are in favour of trade peace on the whole,” he said as the two leaders and their teams had a working breakfast at the Hotel du Palais.
In a series of broadcast interviews, Mr Johnson played down the prospect of a rapid deal.
He told ITV: “There’s an opportunity to do a great free-trade deal with the United States.
“The President is very gung-ho about that and so am I.”
But he added that “I don’t think people realise quite how protectionist” the US market can be.
“They want to do it within a year, I’d love to do it within a year, but that’s a very fast timetable,” he said.
The two leaders agreed to set up a working group focused on closer economic links.
US director of the National Economic Council Larry Kudlow and UK Cabinet Secretary Sir Mark Sedwill have been directed to set up the Special Relationship Economic Working Group (SREWG).
“The SREWG will develop marketoriented principles for economic growth and increase bilateral cooperation on issues related to the modern 21st-century economy,” the White House and Number 10 said in a joint statement.
In full, the statement said: “Today, President Donald J Trump and Prime Minister Boris Johnson met in the margins of the G7 summit in Biarritz, France.
“They celebrated the enduring special relationship between the United States and the United Kingdom, and reaffirmed the value of transatlantic partnership.
“The President and the Prime Minister noted the unique depth of the security and defence partnership between the two countries, and the benefits it brings to each. They committed to increasing the cooperation between the two sovereign nations.
“President Trump and Prime Minister Johnson also discussed how the United Kingdom leaving the European Union presents many opportunities for deepening our already robust economic and commercial relationship, including a comprehensive trade agreement.
“The leaders acknowledged the importance of free, fair and reciprocal trade, and discussed opportunities for deepening our trading relationship in the future based on mutual respect for these principles.
“The President and Prime Minister also discussed the important role of investment in our respective economies and noted American investment in the United Kingdom is responsible for more than one million British jobs and British investment in the United States is responsible for more than one million American jobs.”
But Labour’s Shadow International Trade Secretary, Barry Gardiner, claimed that a global recession is “much more likely” due to policies being championed by President Trump.
He told Sky’s Sophy Ridge on Sunday: “With what Donald Trump has done in introducing the new tariffs that he has suggested on China and the retaliatory tariffs that China is now putting on American goods, we are facing a global recession.”
He suggested a global recession is “much more likely if they pursue protectionist and aggressive trade policies”.
He added: “What the G7 must focus on is how to rebuild the global economy, how we must look at the World Trade Organisation, where again America and Donald Trump have refused the appointment of new judges to the appellate courts.
“In December this year the World Trade Organisation will no longer be able to function as the mediator of disputes because there will not be enough judges to do so.
“These are the things that G7 should now be focused on, in addition, of course, to what is happening in Brazil with the fires there that are so damaging to the global environment, and indeed to Brazil itself.”
Mr Johnson also had talks on Brexit at the G7 with European Council president Donald Tusk.
A senior UK official said the pair would meet again in September at the United Nations General Assembly.
The official said: “The Prime Minister repeated that the UK will be leaving the EU on October 31, whatever the circumstances. We must respect the referendum result.”
Mr Johnson said the UK would work in an “energetic and determined way to get a better deal and we are very willing to sit down to talk with the EU and member states about what needs to be done to achieve that”.
But he added that the prospect of a Brexit deal was “touch and go”.
“It all depends on our EU friends and partners. I think in the last few days there has been a dawning realisation in Brussels and other European capitals what the shape of the problem is for the UK,” he told the BBC.
“I think it’s going to be touch and go but the important thing is to get ready to come out without a deal.”
He promised that if there was a no-deal Brexit people would still be able to get their medicine.
He said: “That is certainly a guarantee that we can make.”