The British Trade Secretary Liam Fox said on Monday that a post-Brexit trade agreement with the United States may take time as it's not possible to reach a deal before the Brexit happens.
Fox warned that potential complications linked to federal government issues may cause problems, despite this being a top concern on Boris Johnson's agenda.
“One of the things you have to remember about the US is that not all trade policy is actually done at the federal government level,” said Fox, “A great deal of the trade policy is done at the state level, particularly in the non-tariff barriers to trade, things like regulation. We have been increasing the number of our staff in the US who are expert at the state-to-state level,” he added.
Therefore, reaching a deal with the United States before the Brexit happens is impossible given the current situation.
“We can’t negotiate anything with the US until after we’ve left the European Union. It would be in breach of European law for us to do that,” highlighted Fox.
The trade secretary also quoted the upcoming United States presidential race as a reason to think that reaching a deal will be complicated.
“You have got the added complication that we’re now getting very close to the American pre-election year, where it’s quite hard to get things through Congress. So even if you negotiate them quickly you wouldn’t necessarily get to ratify them,” he explained.
Despite all these factors, together with quality standard issues in the food and agriculture sectors, increase the skepticism regarding the capability of reaching a deal, the UK government still believes in trying to get an agreement with one of its most important trade partners.
“But it’s certainly true that we should be trying to get an agreement with the United States as quickly as we possibly can,” said Fox.
When asked about who is going to replace Sir Kim Darroch, who recently resigned as the UK ambassador in the United States after being attacked by Donald Trump, Fox said that they're considering options that are not necessarily career diplomats.
“I’ve always thought that we should be using a wider range of people in some of our diplomatic posts,” he answered.
The United Kingdom is set to leave the European Union at the end of October. Whether it will leave with or without a transition period is still unclear, concerning investors and analysts.