A potential UK-US trade deal. Let's try to go for a definitive thread here as this looks like it's going to run for a few hours (and after 3 years working on TTIP I feel I know a little about what the US might want). Short version - was always going to be a problem 1/
We know all about US asks on hormone treated beef and chlorinated chicken. which Michael Gove may have ruled out. But US agricultural interests would have to get something, and if not this, the next likely target was Geographical Indications, which... 2/ theguardian.com/politics/2017/…
...are a long standing US objection to EU trade policy. So the UK know this and have yet to agree on GIs with the EU. But the EU also know and hence want to include in the Withdrawal Agreement. Bottom line, no EU FTA without GIs. So problem for US FTA 3/
On regulations big US ask is good regulatory practice. That would be a big tick for us. Next ask is acceptance of US technical standards - but that's problematic if we stay in the EU standards system as we have suggested. Another problem 4/ ft.com/content/94ef2b…
Another key US industry interest is pharmaceutical companies. Big ask, transparency in NHS processes for setting medicine prices. Which would cause an outcry and Government has also said wouldn't happen 5/ telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/05/1…
President Trump was obsessed by the US trade deficit, and fortunately US stats show them running a surplus with us (UK stats show the opposite). But he's now moved on to generally saying everyone should make in the US. So that doesn't look good 6/ ft.com/content/82ebed…
It is not yet clear as to whether rules on data would be a problem for the UK in having separate deals with EU and US. But it could be another problem for a UK-US trade agreement, if we couldn't include data because of EU laws 7/ dataiq.co.uk/article/news-a…
Meanwhile UK asks in a US trade agreement might be for better market access in the insurance sector and for public procurement. But the main problem in both cases is the state level in the US, which isn't usually included in their agreements 8/
A final point. In the US a trade agreement with the UK would be probably the most popular ever in their often trade-sceptical congress. In the UK all evidence suggests there would be a massive public campaign against such a deal. The current Labour party would certainly oppose 9/
Summary: A UK-US trade deal was going to face major problems anyway. These were disgracefully ignored in the influential Legatum / Shanker Singham reports. The US are a major trading partner and there's much we can do together on trade. But probably not an FTA 10/ ends
Postscript: I didn't mention the TTIP-infamous Investor State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) - is isn't clear whether it would have featured in a US-UK agreement, as even discussion of it would have possibly killed such an agreement immediately
