The United Kingdom will have great difficulty in concluding a trade agreement with the US. That’s what Larry Summers thinks, the renowned economist who was finance minister under US president Bill Clinton and top economic adviser to the Obama administration.
The Brexit will leave the country “desperate” and “without change”, says Summers.
British Foreign Minister Dominic Raab is visiting the US this week to lay the foundation for a trade agreement when the UK is no longer an EU member. Brexit MPs, including Prime Minister Boris Johnson, argue that a free trade agreement with the Americans is one of the greatest benefits of leaving the EU. President Donald Trump promised a deal “in unprecedented areas” in the past.
Summers said on Tuesday, however, that the US only agrees to an agreement that is heavily in its favor.
“Great Britain has no negotiating position. Britain is desperate. Britain has nothing else. They need an agreement very quickly. If you have a desperate partner, that is the time to strike and get the best deal out of it, “he said on the radio show” Today “on BBC Radio 4.
“Quitting your job before you have something new is the last thing you have to do,” says Summers. “If, on principle, you want to leave the European Union at any cost, then you give potential new trading partners a huge advantage in the negotiations.”
Summers added: “Britain has much less to offer than Europe as a whole, and therefore there is less reason for the United States to make concessions. You make more concessions when making arrangements with a rich man than when making agreements with a poor person.”
Many British MPs are strongly against an extensive trade agreement with the US. There is concern about the prospect that a deal will give American companies far-reaching access to British agriculture, after which the market will be flooded with cheap products that will penalize British companies and lower the quality of products sold.
According to Labor, a trade agreement would also give American companies access to the British health care system, the NHS.
Members of the US Congress also said that they would not support a deal if it threatens the Good Friday agreements and the open border between Northern Ireland and Ireland.
Noami Smith, CEO of the pro-EU organization Best for Britain, even said: “This is the real reason why Trump is so nice about a deal. He is not a friend of Great Britain, he knows that Boris Johnson is a wimp and he wants to make the best possible use of it. ”
“Every post-Brexit agreement with the US threatens our national health care. Trump has already said he wants it on the table and Johnson does not like to upset his American boss. Stopping the Brexit and the weak position in which it has brought us is the best way to protect the NHS. ”
