BritishAmerican Business (BAB) Statement on Announcement of Intent to Negotiate Trade Agreement with

London/New York – On 16 October under direction from President Donald J. Trump, Robert E. Lighthizer, the United States Trade Representative (USTR) formally notified the United States Congress of the intention to negotiate a new trade agreement with the United Kingdom once it has formally left the European Union on 29th March 2019, alongside agreements with the EU and Japan.

In response, Duncan Edwards, CEO, BritishAmerican Business released the following statement:

“This announcement marks a critical milestone in the future of the economic relationship between our countries; a trade relationship worth over £160 billion annually, alongside the $1 trillion the UK and US have invested in each other’s economies. It is a relationship that continues to grow, supporting over 1 million jobs, growth, and prosperity on both sides of the Atlantic.

We are encouraged by the US’ ambition to strengthen trade and investment ties with the UK and other relevant trading partners. Particularly with the UK, there is the opportunity to expand the existing relationship by removing tariffs and non-tariff barriers and to set the level-playing field for emerging sectors.

As the UK prepares to leave the EU, we welcome the work being done by the US-UK Trade and Investment Working Group, launched in July 2017, to prepare the ground for a new chapter in the US-UK economic relationship.

BritishAmerican Business has long been a vocal advocate of increasingly frictionless trade between the United States and United Kingdom, and today’s announcement marks a significant step in the right direction towards achieving this. We look forward to continuing our role as an active participant and advisor in the process in the years to come.”

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For a PDF copy of this statement, please click here.

About BritishAmerican Business

BritishAmerican Business (BAB) is an exclusive members’ organization; we create networking opportunities for our members, which often lead to business opportunities, through the events and programming that we run. As a policy and advocacy organization we are the voice of transatlantic business; we support policies and action that will protect and enhance the environment for trade and investment between the US and UK. For more information, please visit www.babinc.org