A British farmer has expressed frustration over the newly announced US-UK trade deal, describing it as "another hammer blow" to the UK farming industry.
Olly Harrison told GB News that the agreement undermines British farmers by cutting tariffs on products that can be produced to standards not followed in the UK.
The deal, finalised this week between Prime Minister Keir Starmer and US President Donald Trump, has received mixed reactions from agricultural sectors.
Harrison told GB News: "So they've cut the tariffs on products that can be produced to standards we don’t follow here. Producing grain in the UK is very expensive, just like producing steel.
Olly Harrison told GB News that the agreement undermines British farmers
GB NEWS
"We can’t use some of the technologies they use elsewhere, and we don’t have the same scale. Just like with steel, we can’t produce it cheaply because we’re paying more for energy and input costs.
"If they’re now going to use those grains over there and send them here as ethanol, it's going to undermine our farming industry.
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"This would all be fine if we had an energy strategy in this country that gave us cheap and plentiful energy.
"But the reality is that, because of various policy decisions and the current situation here, it's already very difficult to stay competitive.
"And now, this is yet another hammer blow to the industry."
His concerns come as the trade deal opens up new market access for American products including ethanol, beef and machinery.
The agreement is expected to add five billion dollars of opportunity to American exporters, according to US officials, while maintaining a 10 per cent tariff on certain goods.
The National Farmers Union and other rural groups have given mixed responses to the deal, with some cautious optimism about new export opportunities.
"The thought of our farmers having access, our beef farmers particularly having access to a massive market in the United States, it's great," one industry representative told GB News.
Donald Trump announced the deal yesterday ReutersThey added: "I personally don't think there's a huge amount of appetite for US beef in this country, but I do think that there's a massive amount of appetite for our beef in the United States."
However, concerns remain about importing food "that would otherwise be illegal to produce in this country."
The Countryside Alliance and other groups are calling for "much better labelling on the food that we're eating."
