John Bolton, President Trump’s national security adviser, has said the UK is “first in line” for a trade deal with the US following Brexit.
Mr Bolton said that the US supported a no-deal Brexit and would help the country out by accelerating a proposed sector-by-sector trade deal with the UK after it left the EU.
He said an agreement on manufacturing would be made first, with other sectors such as financial services and agriculture following soon after.
The US proposes a bilateral agreement that could be drafted “very quickly, very straight-forwardly”.
The UK has so far conducted 12 deals with other countries in preparation for a no-deal Brexit and has another deal in principle agreed with South Korea.
However, a trade deal with the US would be a major coup for the country and would place it ahead of the EU, after Trump pulled out of negotiations for a significant deal with the bloc shortly after coming to power.
Mirroring the comments of Mr Bolton, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said there would be “all sorts” of opportunities for UK business in the US, but admitted that negotiations would be a “tough old haggle”.
He said: “The single biggest deal we need to do is a free trade deal agreement with our friends and partners over the Channel.”
While Trump and his advisers may favour a UK-US deal, some politicians in the US have said no such deal would be possible if it had an impact on peace in Ireland.
Congresswoman Nancy Pelos, the most powerful US Democrat has said that a deal was “not on the cards if there’s any harm done to the Good Friday accords”.
A no-deal Brexit increases the risk of a hard border in Ireland, which could have an impact on the Good Friday accords and make the prospect of trade with the US more difficult.
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