US to pressure UK to import high-quality American meat in Trump trade deal | Trade policy

The United States is expected to push Britain to allow tariff-free access to high-quality American meat as part of any trade deal signed under the incoming Trump administration, amid interest from the president-elect’s trade chief.

Previous attempts to forge an agreement with the US have failed. Demands to allow the import of chlorinated chicken and hormone-fed beef – produced in the US but illegal in the UK – have proved too unpalatable for British ministers.

However, leading trade and industry figures in the US now say that stumbling block could be removed by only allowing meat produced to existing UK standards to enter the country without tariffs. They say the market for such meat has flourished in the US since the issue of a post-Brexit trade deal was first raised.

British ministers have only ruled out any future deal that would undermine British food standards. Michael Froman, the US trade representative under Barack Obama from 2013 to 2017, said the incoming administration was likely to concentrate on China and tariffs. However, in terms of a UK deal, he said “much has changed since the old days of battles over chlorinated chicken and hormone-fed beef”.

“The US now has sizeable markets for hormone and chemical-free poultry and beef, and it is at least possible there could be a compromise on certain longstanding issues,” he said. “If the UK is serious about negotiating an FTA with the US, though, it should make sure it has the political support to make hard decisions on market access, rules and standards.”

Any move to widen free access to US meat risks provoking British farmers, who already face stiff competition and many of whom have been angered by the government’s inheritance tax increases on agricultural land. Farmers already complain about the trade deals signed under Boris Johnson that allowed for greater beef and lamb imports from Australia and New Zealand.

But US producers remain keen on the idea of a deal for certain products. “US agriculture has been adamant that we need more proactive initiatives on trade and certainly the UK is one of the big economies, big markets, big consumer bases out there where we have extremely limited access,” said Erin Borror, a vice-president of the US Meat Export Federation. “From our perspective, it’s really just entirely upside potential. Our producers, our exporters are all about supplying what the consumer and the customer wants. Just let the market work.”

The incoming US trade representative, Jamieson Greer, name-checked the UK as a possible partner for a future free trade deal last year. “I recommend that the United States seek market access in non-Chinese markets in incremental, sectoral and bilateral agreements with other countries,” he said. “Focusing on trading partners such as the United Kingdom, Kenya, the Philippines and India would be a good start.”

Rachel Reeves, the chancellor, has signalled that she will seek to maintain as much free trade as possible with the US after the arrival of Trump. She is also under pressure to deliver promised economic growth. British farmers have already attempted to warn the government. Tom Bradshaw, the president of the National Farmers’ Union, told the Observer that he was “closely monitoring the political changes in the US”.

“Restarting trade talks simply to avoid president-elect Trump’s potential tariffs does not strike me as the right foundation for a balanced trade agreement,” he said. “If negotiations do proceed, it is vital that any agreement upholds the high standards we set in the UK, ensuring that products which would be illegal to produce here do not gain access to our market.”

Jonathan Reynolds, the trade secretary, said recently that past talks over the likes of chlorinated chicken had been difficult because of “the very different regulatory regimes for agriculture and food that exist in the UK and the EU in relation to the US”.

“But are there things we can be talking about? Whether you characterise that as an FTA or simply a negotiation between two allies and friends, there are definitely things we could work together on and I would welcome that conversation.”