Joe Biden has once again shifted the goalposts for a trade deal - but was it ever on the table in the first place? Analysis by Millie Cooke
Joe Biden
PA
'Looking back at the different hoops that have been set for the UK Government to jump through, the question is - was a trade deal ever on the table in the first place?'
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The UK Government has been floating the prospect of a UK-US trade deal since the moment we left the EU. And yet, at every turn, the Biden administration appears to be shifting the goal posts.
During the UK's post-Brexit talks with the EU - as both sides attempted to find a solution to border checks in Ireland - Biden weighed in. He dangled a UK-US trade deal as leverage to try and ensure the UK would come to an agreement that was acceptable to the US.
He repeatedly stated that no such deal would be made if peace in Northern Ireland was threatened, saying such a deal was "contingent" upon respect for the Good Friday Agreement.
Then came the Windsor Framework. While the deal had its many critics, Biden was not one of them.
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He praised the agreement as an "essential step to ensuring that the hard-earned peace and progress of the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement is preserved and strengthened", gushing about the "efforts of the leaders and officials on all sides" who worked "tirelessly to find a way forward".
And yet, across the Atlantic, there was barely a whisper of progress on a trade deal.
And then came the UK's plan to send migrants to Rwanda. As politicians on the right of the Conservative Party eyed leaving the ECHR as a tool to get the plan off the ground, Biden was watching.
Responding to the UK's threats to leave the ECHR, a senior whitehouse official told the New York Times they are "Definitely all keeping an eye on Northern Ireland".
Meanwhile, the US State Department said: "Our priority remains protecting the gains of the Belfast/Good Friday agreement, and preserving peace, stability and prosperity for the people of Northern Ireland."
Once again, the two countries appeared to have hit a roadblock.
But in October, it was announced that the UK and the US were in talks to agree a "foundational agreement" - a pact which would see the two nations come to agreements on more than 11 areas of trade and regulation.
The proposed plan was seen as a "roadmap" to a trade deal.
When initially floated, there were talks that the plan would be over the line ahead of a 2024 US election. A draft plan prepared by the United States Trade Representative's (USTR) office in late August indicated that trade negotiations would start in October, with initial chapters of the foundational deal expected to be completed by next spring.
But, just weeks after the Government unveiled its new Rwanda legislation - which does not involve withdrawing from the EHCR - it appears Biden has moved the goalposts once again.
The Whitehouse is said to have shelved the plans after opposition from democrats in the Senate over concerns about lack of protections for American workers.
The move harks back to concerns raised by Business Secretary Kemi Badenoch at the Conservative Party conference last October.
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In a series of unequivocal remarks at a fringe event, the minister warned there is "zero" chance of the UK securing a post-Brexit trade deal with the US while Joe Biden remains in the White House.
She warned he is too close to the unions to strike a free trade agreement.
Looking back at the different hoops that have been set for the UK Government to jump through, the question is - was a trade deal ever on the table in the first place?
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