British Finance Minister Rachel Reeves has said that securing a trade deal with the United States government would not be easy, stating that there was good reason to be hopeful.
Reeves made this statement on Tuesday at a conference hosted by the Make UK manufacturing industry body in London.
It was gathered that countries around the world are scrambling to shield themselves from potential tariffs during U.S. President Donald Trump’s second term in office.
Recall that Trump’s new tariffs on imports from Mexico and Canada, along with a doubling of duties on Chinese goods, took effect earlier on Tuesday.
“I think there’s every reason to be hopeful about coming to some sort of trade deal.
“I’m not naive. This is not going to be an easy thing to secure for reasons that we all understand. There will have to be give and take on both sides. We absolutely recognize that, but I do think there’s a big opportunity here,” Reeves said.
After a meeting with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer in Washington last week, Trump told a joint news conference that the two countries were negotiating a bilateral trade deal that could help avert U.S. tariffs.
According to Starmer, a new economic deal, which would have advanced technology at its core, would strengthen the already strong trading relationship.
Reeves on Tuesday also acknowledged that businesses trading with the EU had been hit with red tape and bureaucracy since Brexit and that trade negotiations shouldn’t be about choosing between the U.S. and Britain’s nearest neighbors and trading partners in Europe.
“I believe that that is in our mutual interest, our interest and in the interests of our European partners, if we can get freer trade once again,” she added.