U.S. Sen. Rob Portman (R-OH) spearheaded a bipartisan request to U.S. President Donald Trump that he ensure America initiates a bilateral trade agreement with the United Kingdom when it leaves the European Union (EU) in 2019.
“The economic ties between the United States and the United Kingdom are longstanding and significant,” wrote Sen. Portman and 18 colleagues in a Nov. 16 letter sent to President Trump that included signatures from U.S. Sens. Susan Collins (R-ME), Richard Burr (R-NC), and Chris Coons (D-DE). “The United Kingdom is the fourth-largest export market for American goods and services and is our seventh-largest trading partner overall.”
Sens. Portman and Coons are co-chairs of the Senate UK Trade Caucus, which they launched in May to build congressional support for such a trade agreement between the United States and the United Kingdom.
“We believe a trade agreement with the United Kingdom would confirm and enhance our commercial partnership and our security alliance, and we look forward to working with you and your administration to expand opportunities for ‘Made in America’ products to be sold to our friends and allies in the United Kingdom,” the senators wrote.
The group of lawmakers wrote that they “were pleased to receive the notification” from Trump that he intended to initiate trade negotiations with the UK after it departs from the EU and they pointed out that the United States has a $15 billion trade surplus with the UK, as well as an alliance “rooted in shared values and common political and cultural traditions.”
“Reaffirming this crucial alliance through a new trade agreement will enhance the already close commercial ties and shared values between the United States and the United Kingdom, and it will highlight the critical role trade agreements can play in anchoring important strategic relationships,” wrote the senators.
The lawmakers also noted that while bilateral trade negotiations can’t begin until the UK exits the EU, they agree that the United States must step to the front of the line for an agreement “because we believe our country would benefit from an expeditious deal with a sovereign United Kingdom.”