Trade deal between UK and US unlikely before 2023

The United Kingdom's international trade secretary, Liz Truss, has admitted there is little likelihood of the country striking a trade deal with the United States any earlier than 2023.

In November 2017, Wilbur Ross, who went on to be US president Donald Trump's commerce secretary, was quoted by The Times newspaper as calling Brexit a "God-given opportunity" to steal business from the United Kingdom, and he urged financiers in Cyprus to "take advantage" of the "period of confusion" following its exit from the European Union.

Despite this, both during and after the referendum campaign of 2016, Brexit supporters regularly talked up the chances of a trade deal with the US as a big prize to be won, as the country sought alternative trade arrangements to those lost by leaving the EU.

Truss held five rounds of talks with representatives of the Trump regime, but this week will have her first discussions with staff of his successor, President Joe Biden, and his people will have their own opinions on any conclusions that had previously been reached.

Biden's first overseas visit as president last month was to the G7 summit in the UK, where he held talks with Prime Minister Boris Johnson, but these were described as being about "progression" toward a future trade deal "which would create jobs and bring new opportunities to both of our countries", rather than anything more substantial.

Biden has also shown far more inclination toward Europe than Trump did, and there have been several warnings from Washington that the ongoing disagreement over the status of Northern Ireland as part of the Brexit deal will have a significant bearing on the likelihood of any transatlantic trade deal.

Now, the Daily Telegraph reports, Truss is "playing the long game" and does not think any possible deal would be likely before the US mid-term elections, scheduled for November 2022.

As well as speaking to politicians in Washington, Truss will visit California to talk to leading figures in the technology sector, as she believes their support could help Britain's case in trade negotiations.

"Workers in both the UK and US have suffered when their products are unfairly undercut," she was quoted as saying in the Evening Standard.

"We must work together with our friends and allies in the US to protect free enterprise from practices like industrial subsidies and intellectual property theft, which give trade a bad name.

"With UK-US trade supporting over a million jobs in both countries, there is clear reason to work together to deepen our trade and investment ties and build back better.

"Together we can build on our credentials as two great innovating nations, and take this opportunity to shape the future of digital trade."