TRUMP: LET’S DO A DEAL BY JULY
He brands EU the ‘anchor around Britain’s ankle’ as he promises swift trade pact
‘There will be some tough talks ahead’
DONALD Trump yesterday told Boris Johnson he wants to strike a trade deal by next summer.
The US President hailed the Prime Minister as the ‘right man’ to deliver Brexit, as they met for the first time since Mr Johnson entered No 10.
Mr Trump pledged to do a ‘very big’ deal with Britain once it is free from the EU, which he said had been an ‘anchor’ around our ankle.
He accused Theresa May of failing to make a start on negotiations, saying progress had been stymied when she was in Downing Street.
Mr Johnson is a ‘different person’ who will make a ‘great prime minister,’ Mr Trump added. The Prime Minister last night said he would ‘love’ to sign a deal by June or July next year, but said it would be a ‘tight’ deadline.
The Daily Mail revealed last week how the pair were expected to agree on a timetable for talks when they meet at the end of next month at the United Nations general assembly in New York.
As they sat down for a breakfast of scrambled eggs, veal sausages and toast on the sidelines of the G7 summit in Biarritz yesterday, Mr Trump heaped praise on Mr Johnson, telling reporters: ‘He’s going to be a fantastic prime minister, I can tell you.’
Asked if he had any advice for Mr Johnson on Brexit, the President replied: ‘He needs no advice. He’s the right man for the job.
‘I’ve been saying that for a long time. It didn’t make your predecessor very happy, but I’ve been saying it for a long time: He’s the right man for the job.’
Mr Trump said Brexit would allow Britain to strike a trade deal with the US, adding: ‘They won’t have the obstacle, they won’t have the anchor around their ankle.’
However, Mr Johnson warned that a trade deal with the US will not be ‘plain sailing’ and raised a series of areas where he wanted concessions from Washington.
He said: ‘There will be some tough talks ahead because at the moment I don’t think we sell a single joint of British lamb in the United States; we don’t sell any beef and there are huge opportunities for the UK to penetrate the American market in ways we currently don’t.’
On his flight to Biarritz on Saturday, Mr Johnson told how restrictive US rules on British products such as pork pies and shower trays would have to be overcome before a deal could be struck. He said: ‘It is very important if we are going to do a fantastic free trade deal that works in the interests of British business. There are currently restrictions on the sale of Britishmade shower trays to the US. We’ve sold 250,000 shower trays around the world. There is some kind of bureaucratic obstacle that stops us selling them in the US because they are allegedly too low.
‘Melton Mowbray pork pies, which are sold in Thailand and in Iceland, are currently unable to enter the US market.’ 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: ‘There is complete unanimity on that point.’
After the meeting, Mr Johnson said that both he and the President were ‘very gung-ho’ about getting a deal done.
He told the BBC: ‘The Americans are very ambitious to get this done as fast as possible.
‘They really want results within a year, I suppose by next June or July. We’re keen to go as fast as we can.’
In a separate interview with Sky News, he added: ‘We share their optimism and their enthusiasm but we want it to be a bigger comThe prehensive trade deal. So it’s got to go beyond just trade in goods and agriculture, we want to see what you can do with services.
‘If you are a British architect or insurance company, you have unbelievable barriers to establish in the US in a way that an American architecture firm and American lawyer does not face barriers in the UK.’
Mr Johnson has held weekly telephone calls with Mr Trump since taking office last month.
John Bolton, Mr Trump’s national security adviser, last night tweeted that the ‘Special Relationship has never been stronger’. Prime Minister, meanwhile, 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. The leaders also agreed to set up a working group – the ‘special relationship economic working group’, or SCREWG – focused on closer economic links.
The two countries have already set up a separate working group to prepare work for a trade deal.
Near the summit, French President Emmanuel Macron’s wife Brigitte welcomed First Lady Melania Trump to Biarritz with a traditional Basque dance performance in the village of Espelette.
Both women were presented with red roses during the display.
The reason for Mr Johnson’s girlfriend Carrie Symonds’s absence was unclear, although it was speculated that work commitments had kept her away.
G7 leaders were left surprised after Iran’s foreign minister paid a flying visit at the invitation of France. Mohammad Javad Zarif jetted in for talks with the French, with a top official saying President Macron made the decision himself.
The White House said it had surprised Mr Trump, who is at loggerheads with Tehran over oil and its nuclear ambitions.
Comment – Page 18
‘The Americans are very ambitious’