Boris Johnson demands Donald Trump opens up US to Melton Mowbray pork pies and slashes red tape in post-Brexit trade deal
BORIS Johnson has demanded Donald Trump opens up America to Melton Mowbray pork pies and slashes red tape on other goods in any post-Brexit trade deal.
The PM revealed he had set out some of Britain’s goals with the White House — and again made it clear the NHS was not up for grabs.
He said “barriers to British business” had to go to ensure any deal was right for the UK.
He also risked upsetting the US president by saying Mr Trump faced the blame for any global recession resulting from the crippling US-China trade war.
Mr Johnson spoke as he arrived in Biarritz in southern France for his first international summit as PM. He insisted world leaders would be “working flat out” on key issues and, in typical style, said the G7 was not a “wonderful boondoggle [a US term for a wasteful project] in a posh hotel”.
Speaking about his hopes for a bumper US trade agreement, BoJo said he and Mr Trump had a productive chat on Friday evening.
He said he told him there were “massive opportunities” but only when “very considerable barriers” in the US were first overcome.
Mr Johnson said: “It’s not just beef or lamb that is currently banned from entering the US, in spite of their commitment to overturn that prohibition in 2014.
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“Melton Mowbray pork pies, which are sold in Thailand and in Iceland, are currently unable to enter the US market because of . . . some sort of Food and Drug Administration restriction.”
Outlining another example, he said the sale of UK-made shower trays was restricted “because they are allegedly too low” yet 250,000 had been sold worldwide.
Reeling off a list of further frustrations, the PM added:
- RAILWAY carriage manufacturers face a 14 per cent tariff on US-bound exports yet American firms must pay only 1.7 per cent;
- UK-MADE wallpaper, pillows and other fabrics must be fire tested on arrival rather than being admitted automatically;
- CAULIFLOWERS can only enter certain ports, not Miami where UK exporters want them to go;
- ENGLISH wine-makers have to go through US distributors if they wish to export;
- BRITISH micro-breweries are taxed in the US but the same does not apply to American micro-breweries in the UK;
- SELLING insurance in the UK requires chats with two regulators but 50 in America, and;
- PROCUREMENT rules ban the US military from buying British stationery — such as rulers or tape measures — yet US firms face no such restrictions in Britain.
Boris went on: “There are massive opportunities for UK companies to open up, to prise open the American market. We intend to seize those opportunities but they’re going to require our American friends to compromise and open up their approach. Currently there are too many restrictions.”
One insider said Mr Johnson’s comments were designed to trash Labour claims that he was Mr Trump’s poodle — and that a trade deal would wreck UK PLC.
Mr Johnson again ruled out any access to the NHS for US firms as part of the deal — amid concerns in Tory ranks that it could become a central plank of Labour’s attack strategy in any upcoming election.
The PM said: “It goes without saying that there are sectors of the UK economy . . . completely off limits. We will not allow the NHS to be on the table at all.”
He also said the tariff war between the US and China could tip Britain and Germany into recession and pointed out it had left UK whisky industry facing an extra £1.1billion in export levies.
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BoJo and Mr Trump are expected to sign a “road map” to a deal and, next month, shake hands on the “heads of terms” at the UN General Assembly in New York. The move will set out the work both sides intend to carry out over the next year.
Ahead of their face-to-face talks at the G7, Mr Johnson said it was “the most important thing” for any PM to have a “very close friendly relationship with our most important ally”.
Mr Trump is expected to take centre stage at the talks despite French president Emmanuel Macron’s wish to revive the Iranian nuclear deal and get tough with Brazil over the Amazon.
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