IS BIDEN NOW READY FOR A TRADE PACT WITH THE UK?
THE White House fuelled speculation about a possible trade deal with the UK yesterday when it said Rishi Sunak’s agreement on Brexit would ‘open up avenues for trade’.
Talks on a post-Brexit deal have been on ice since Joe Biden took office two years ago.
The American president has piled pressure on the UK and EU to fix the post-Brexit trading problems in Northern Ireland ahead of the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement in April. He welcomed the ‘Windsor Framework’ agreed on Monday, and in a statement, said the North could ‘accomplish the extraordinary when its leaders work together in common cause’.
Later, US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby went further, telling reporters: ‘This will help improve the prosperity of both the EU and the UK, and will open up all kinds of new avenues for trade that were somewhat at risk.’ Downing Street yesterday played down the prospect of a UK-US trade deal, saying that talks were focused on strengthening ties with individual American states.