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Chancellor Rachel Reeves will use a trip to Washington this week to plead in favor of global free trade, while urging Trump administration to reduce punitive prices on British cars and steel exports.
Reeves will discuss a possible British / American trade agreement when she meets the American secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent for the first time, stressing that Great Britain will not conclude any agreement at any price.
But Reeves will use Spring Meetings of the IMF and the World Bank in Washington – which attended the best ministers in finance and central bankers – to assert the wider arguments for free and open trade.
The Chancellor, who seeks to strengthen the economic ties of Great Britain with the EU, China and India, will argue that free trade is in the national interest of Great Britain, according to her allies.
The meetings in Washington mark the first major gathering in the American capital of the main decision -makers of the economy since the inauguration of Donald Trump as a president in January, adding an advantage to their discussions.
Meetings should be marked by Republication of global growth forecasts Through the IMF, growing trade barriers weigh on major economies, including the United States, Europe and China.
An informed person of Reeves plans said that “acting in the national interest of Great Britain means continuing to work for free and open worldwide” – a case that the Chancellor will do several times during her stay in Washington.
The Chancellor should participate in a public IMF session – a debate on the global economy – Thursday and will hold talks with counterparts including besing on economic prospects.
Bessent is seen in London as One of the cheapest voices on trade Within the Trump administration, but the White House officials indicated that the 10% reference rate that Trump has imposed on many countries, including the United Kingdom, could remain.
The British ministers and the UK ambassador to Washington, Lord Peter Mandelson, are particularly focused on the persuasion of Trump Cut its global price of 25% on imports of cars and steel Regarding Great Britain.
While Great Britain is ready to reduce its tax on digital services, which strikes American technological companies and to reduce prices on certain American exports of meat and seafood, other Trump requests could prove too difficult for the government of Sir Keir Starmer.
Starmer has excluded relaxing British food security standards, including those covering American beef and chicken exports, and any dilution of British online security laws would cause great political reaction.
Reeves, speaking last week before his visit to the United States, said: “Any agreement capable of being obtained will always have a before and central British national interest.”
The Chancellor also put pressure for an ambitious agreement to reduce obstacles to trade with the EU, for example, aligning British food standards with those of the rest of Europe to rationalize trade in cross channels.
All Great Britain concessions in Trump on food standards – a long -standing American demand in all commercial discussions – could compromise hopes for closer relations with the EU. Starmer hosts a British / European Summit On May 19, “reset” the commercial and security links that suffered from Brexit.
An informed person of the trade talks of the United Kingdom / United States said that progress was in progress “in adjustment”, but added: “We need the right deal and not a quick case, but we need it to progress in a technological partnership.”
Reeves did not meet Bessent before, but the two spoke regularly on the phone, according to British officials.
However, British officials warn that they do not expect the meeting of Reeves with Bessente to be this week as a “revolutionary moment” in trade negotiations with the United States.
During a telephone call on Good Friday, Starmer and Trump discussed the state of discussions on a possible British / American agreement, with Downing Street describing talks as “in progress and productive”.
However, the official account of the number 10 of the call suggested that Starmer reminded Trump that there were red lines in his negotiation position.
“The Prime Minister reiterated his commitment to free and open trade and the importance of protecting national interest,” said number 10.
