Badenoch to push for ‘muscular liberalism and free trade’ in US trip
The UK and US must show the world that “muscular liberalism and free trade are a force for good”, trade secretary Kemi Badenoch has said before her trip to Washington.
The Department for International Trade (DIT) said Badenoch, who is leaving today, would “promote UK-US trade” during her trip while speaking out against protectionism.
Badenoch will meet with US Treasury Deputy Secretary Wally Adeyemo and members of Congress during her first trip to the US as trade secretary.
It comes after ex-Prime Minister Liz Truss said in September that the UK would not be striking a post-Brexit trade deal with the US any time soon and that negotiations were not due to begin again.
Badenoch said last night that she was in Washington “to boost our trading relationship further and work with allies on critically important issues like strengthening supply chains”.
“Both the UK and the US know we cannot have security at home without security abroad, and we need to make the global economy resilient to future shocks,” she said.
“Now is the time to roll up our sleeves and show how muscular liberalism and free trade are a force for good in the world.”
The UK had several rounds of trade negotiations with the US when Donald Trump was President, however talks were put on ice indefinitely when Joe Biden entered the White House.
Biden has not prioritised signing trade deals during his presidency, while there are also long-standing roadblcoks to an agreement being signed.
This includes America’s food safety standards, the US would want tariffs dropped on agricultural exports to strike a deal, and the status of the NHS.
The White House has also told UK officials that there will be no trade deal unless the UK can sort out a solution to the Northern Ireland Protocol with the EU.
Ministers in the Department for International Trade (DIT) have instead begun to sign state-based deals to remove non-tariff barriers.
Indiana and Carolina were the first two states to sign agreements.