Towards a Progressive US-UK Trade Partnership
Article
The contemporary model of international trade is under strain. Rising trade tensions, paralysis at the World Trade Organisation (WTO), and economic instability as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic have led to renewed calls for reform of the underlying rules of international trade.
The election of president Biden has signalled a more constructive approach from the US towards global diplomacy, alongside a continued critique of the current model of trade. As both the US and UK turn their focus towards revitalising international alliances, there is a new opportunity to strengthen the US and UK trading partnership. The Biden administration in the US and the Johnson premiership in the UK have a shared interest in tackling the climate crisis and pursuing a green-led economic recovery from the coronavirus pandemic.
In the short-term, the two countries are looking to make progress on trade and climate policy at the G7 and COP26 summits, hosted by the UK in Cornwall and Glasgow respectively. In the longer term, there is the prospect of a US-UK free trade agreement after negotiations commenced last year. And more broadly, the US and the UK can strengthen the ‘special relationship’ through a trade partnership grounded in shared progressive principles: supporting climate and nature action; tackling economic inequalities; and promoting human rights.
In this briefing paper, we set out a broad framework for how the US and the UK can work together to develop such a progressive trading partnership.
Related items
Taken to heart: Inequalities in heart disease in Scotland
More than 7.6 million people across the UK live with cardiovascular disease (CVD), around twice as many as live with Alzheimer’s disease and cancer combined.Skills passports: An essential part of a fair transition
This month, government will publish its Clean Energy Workforce Strategy. This plan covers two aims. First, filling the growing demand for skills in clean energy industries is essential to keep on track to reach the government’s clean power…Fixing the leak: How to end the £22 billion annual taxpayer losses at the Bank of England
The Bank of England increased its interest rates over recent years, aimed at reducing inflation. But this has also had an unintended effect on the Bank of England’s massive government bond buying – ‘quantitative easing’ – programme.