Should Brexit succeed, the United States is ready to strengthen trade relationships with the United Kingdom.
According to a new document from U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer’s department, the U.S. is looking forward to “fair, balanced, and reciprocal trade with the UK” once Brexit is finalized.
This document was released two weeks after President Trump said that he was anticipating “substantially increased” trade between the UK and the U.S. once the two countries sign off on a new trade deal.
This echoes U.S. Ambassador to the United Kingdom “Woody” Johnson’s repeated calls to get the ball rolling on an Anglo-American trade deal.
Right now, the UK is not able to enter trade deals because of its EU membership. The British people resoundingly voted to leave the EU in the 2016 Brexit referendum, but London elites have done everything they can to try to delay this process.
Given the shared culture, language, and legal system, re-forging trade relations with the UK should be a no-brainer for the U.S. Both countries would stand to benefit enormously from such a trade arrangement as they are some of the largest and most competitive economies in the world. Despite what the Brexit naysayers claim about trade under a Brexit world, the UK has plenty of new opportunities to tap into when it’s no longer under the EU’s thumb.
All in all, the UK should respect the will of its voters by following through with Brexit. The cases to be made for Brexit are strong, ranging from the economics down to social concerns aboutthe EU’s mass migration policies.
As a sovereign nation, the UK has the right to pursue the trade policy it sees fit without Brussels having to look over its shoulder and tell it what to do.
If Brexit finalizes as expected, the U.S. can score a big win by tightening its commercial relations with the U.K.