The United Kingdom will not rule out joining the trade agreement between the United States, Canada and Mexico if it does not reach a bilateral free trade agreement with Washington, the British minister for the country said on Wednesday. 'Environment.
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"
We are not ruling out anything,
" said George Eustice on the Sky News channel, when asked about the possibility of London joining this trilateral agreement (USMCA), replacing the NAFTA (North American free trade agreement), even if "
our preference is to have a bilateral trade agreement with the United States
".
Since their exit from the European Union, finally implemented on January 1, the British ambition to conclude all-out free trade agreements in order to establish their “
Global Britain
”
strategy
.
Some sixty agreements have already been concluded, notably with Japan, but London fervently hopes to be able to find an arrangement with the United States.
Joe Biden tempers
Cooling their hopes, US President Joe Biden, however, on Tuesday refrained from any commitment to such a free trade agreement, indicating only that "
discussions continued
", by receiving British Prime Minister Boris Johnson at the White House.
"
President Biden has always been clear that trade deals are not really a priority for him at the moment,
" George Eustice tried to procrastinate.
He assured that London had "
no deadline
" to find common ground.
"
We still hope to achieve it but there is no real rush
", he added: "
we do not need it before the next elections
", scheduled for 2024, "
but of course we would like to have one
".
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On Sky News, Boris Johnson said on Tuesday that London would go "
as quickly as possible
", without saying whether an agreement could be reached before this deadline.