Bolton’s U.K. trade promise open-ended
LONDON — British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said Tuesday that getting a free trade deal with the United States would be “a tough old haggle,” after U.S. National Security Adviser John Bolton promised the U.K. quick sector-by-sector trade deals once it leaves the European Union.
Bolton said after meeting Johnson on Monday that “it might be possible to reach a bilateral agreement very quickly, very straightforwardly” in some areas of trade after Brexit.
Bolton said that “in the Trump administration, Britain’s constantly at the front of the trade queue — or line as we say.”
The comments could be interpreted as a boost to Johnson, who has vowed that Britain will leave the EU on Oct. 31, with or without a divorce deal. Supporters of Brexit say a free trade deal with the United States can help make up for any reduction in commerce with the EU after Britain leaves the bloc’s single market for goods and services.
In 2018, Britain did almost half its trade with the EU, while the U.S. accounted for 18 percent of U.K. exports and 11 percent of imports.
Johnson said Tuesday that “in the U.S. there are all sorts of opportunities we have to open up trade.”
Trade experts said Bolton’s warm words for Britain left many key questions unanswered.
David Henig, director of the U.K. Trade Policy Project at the European Centre for International Political Economy, said sectoral trade deals were feasible, along the lines of the U.S.-EU Open Skies agreement on aviation. But he cautioned that grander claims about a trans-atlantic free trade deal were premature.
He said both governments could want a “token” trade deal for political reasons.