At an Orlando conference,
a U.K. trade commissioner said Brexit won’t curtail the country’s trade dealings with the United States or European Union.
A group of bankers from around the globe gathered in Orlando on Tuesday to hear about the United Kingdom's plans for dealing with Brexit, tariffs, artificial intelligence and other worldwide financial issues.
“We see huge growth opportunity outside the European Union …,” said Her Majesty's Trade Commissioner for North America Antony Phillipson. “But we are not about to cut ourselves off from the E.U. entirely. We will do it in partnership with the E.U., the United States and other trade partners.”
Phillipson spoke at the annual North American conference of the Bankers Association for Finance and Trade (BAFT) at the Hyatt Regency Grand Cypress.
In an interview, he also emphasized Florida’s long importance to the U.K. as a destination for investment and visitors.
“Our economies are built on openness and rule of law,” Phillipson said. “Exit from the E.U. offers the opportunity to build on that relationship.”
He’s part of the government of Prime Minister Theresa May, who he said is committed to seeing Brexit through by the March 19 deadline. Phillipson was formerly part of the official Brexit ministry in the British government before taking post as the New York Consul General. His appointment as North America trade commissioner came in February as Britain begins to form its own trade treaties and policies independent of the E.U.
In Florida, many Brits had been anticipating a slowdown in British buyers for Florida real estate around the time that the Brexit vote took place in June 2016.
But that was mostly because the British pound plunged in value, when compared with the dollar, on the day after the vote. It has recovered much of that value now. The pound was worth about $1.48 the day before the Brexit vote and slipped as low as $1.28 afterward. On Tuesday it was trading at $1.36.
Phillipson said the Trump Administration’s tariffs have stirred the international trade outlook, and the British government has made it clear it doesn’t agree with Trump’s tariffs on aluminum and steel.
“We’ve argued successfully for two exemptions for the UK now,” he said. “The UK should be exempt. It national security is the goal, then the UK is one of the closest national security partners with the U.S. We will seek tariffs on imports if necessary, but not on the same scope.”
Phillipson said the Brexit issues still being worked on include protection of UK citizens’ rights in the E.U., the border between Northern Ireland and Ireland, and the UK’s financial obligations to the E.U.
He said his country’s financial and banking regulations will evolve now that it’s becoming independent of the E.U. He said he also expects his nation’s financial technology sector to flourish and change the industry more.
Britain recently announced it was plowing $1.4 billion into the development of artificial intelligence, something Phillipson said the nation already has a leading position in.