WASHINGTON: Britain’s government is not in a rush to secure a trade deal with U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration, finance minister Rachel Reeves said on Wednesday, and she ruled out making concessions on food standards in the talks.
“We’re not going to rush a deal. We want to get the right deal that’s in our national interest and those talks are ongoing,” Reeves told reporters in Washington.
“It’s clear that the U.S. as well wants a deal. And so those discussions continue.”
Reeves, like many of her global peers, hopes to make progress towards reducing Trump’s import tariffs while attending the International Monetary Fund and World Bank spring meetings in the U.S. capital this week.
The Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday that the U.S. wanted Britain to reduce its levies and other non-tariff barriers on a variety of goods including a relaxation of rules on U.S. agricultural imports, such as beef.
“We’re not going to be relaxing our food standards. We’ve been clear with the U.S. about that and they respect that and understand that,” Reeves said. “So that is not something that’s on the table in these discussions.”
UK will not ‘rush into action’ on tariffs
As well as seeking an agreement with the U.S., Britain wants to lower its post-Brexit barriers to trade with the European Union, a plan which could be made more complicated if London agreed to Washington’s demands on food standards.
The WSJ also said the U.S. wanted Britain to cut its automotive import tariff to 2.5% from 10%, citing people with knowledge of a draft U.S. document.
Reeves declined to comment on details of tariff discussions but pushed back against suggestions the UK was under pressure to give ground on non-tariff barriers in key sectors including automobiles as well as rules for social media firms.
“We are not going to be changing our standards based on asks from foreign governments. So discussions, decisions around food standards, around digital services, around auto standards, are decisions for the UK government to make,” she said.
Reeves is due to meet U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent this week and she said she hoped to make progress towards a trade deal that builds on U.S.-UK defence and security ties.
“I think that there is a deal to be done both on tariffs and also a wider deal beyond the immediate issue of tariffs around technology, a technology partnership building on the national security and defence partnership,” she said.
Asked about official data published on Wednesday showing higher-than-expected UK government borrowing, Reeves said she was prepared to take tough action in a two-year spending review in June.
“The numbers today just reinforce to me the importance that this government is placing on controlling the public finances,” she said.
“I’ve absolutely no doubt we can make big improvements in the productivity of our public services, and that is what the spending review will be driving forward.”
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