UK Secretary of State for International Trade Dr. and United States Trade
Representative Robert Lighthizer are pleased to announce the
conclusion of the second meeting of the U.S.-UK Trade and
Investment Working Group (the Working Group) in London. The
delegations were led by officials from the Department for
International Trade and the Office of the U.S. Trade
Representative and included representatives from a wide range of
U.S. and UK government agencies.
The Working Group, established in July 2017, is focusing on
providing commercial continuity for U.S. and UK businesses,
workers, and consumers as the UK leaves the EU and exploring ways
to strengthen trade and investment ties ahead of the exit. The
Working Group will also begin to lay the groundwork for a
potential, future free trade agreement once the UK has left the
EU, and explore areas in which the two countries can collaborate
to promote open markets around the world.
The United States and the UK are working together to deepen their
economic relationship. The Working Group will cover a range of
topics, including industrial and agricultural goods; services,
investment, financial services and digital trade; intellectual
property rights and enforcement; regulatory issues related to
trade; labour and environment/sustainable development; and small
and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Some examples of areas where
the United States and the UK are working closely include:
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Promoting Small and Medium-sized Businesses: The United
States and the UK will establish a U.S.-UK Small and
Medium-sized Enterprise (SME) Dialogue, to promote
closer collaboration and the sharing of best practices on
policies and programs to support SME businesses and
export opportunities in each country’s market. The Working
Group will also discuss best practices on encouraging
entrepreneurship, growth, and innovation.
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Promoting Intellectual Property: Recognising the importance
of intellectual property to their respective economies and to
the bilateral trade relationship, the UK and the United
States have identified short term cooperative initiatives to
support each country’s world-class intellectual property
framework. Efforts are underway to develop joint educational
tools and resources for SMEs to support the export of
creative and innovative products and services between the two
countries. There is also agreement to continue discussions on
enforcement approaches, policy tools, and voluntary
initiatives for addressing online piracy including the
emerging challenge of illicit streaming devices and services.
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Strengthening U.S.-UK Financial Regulatory Cooperation: The
United States and the UK will continue their already strong
collaborative partnership on financial regulatory issues.
Accordingly, the U.S. Department of the Treasury and HM
Treasury will work to enhance efforts to promote global
financial stability and efficient markets, and to address
financial continuity issues arising from the UK’s exit from
the EU.
-
US/UK Technology Safeguards Agreement (UKSA) and Commercial
Space Ports: United States and UK agencies are working
towards a U.S.-UK Technology Safeguards Agreement, which
would establish the technical and legal safeguards to support
U.S. space launch vehicle operations from UK launch sites.
U.S. and UK agencies are also exploring ways in which U.S.
companies can participate in activities at UK commercial
spaceports.
In September 2017, the United States and the UK also entered into
an historic Science and Technology
agreement, which establishes a foundation for enhanced
research partnerships to further world-class science and
technological innovation.
Secretary of State for International Trade Dr. said:
Our working group underlines the shared interest in forging
closer trade and investment ties between the UK and USA, and
the practical steps we can take now to enable our two countries
to do business with one another more easily.
The USA is our single biggest trading partner and this dialogue
will help provide certainty and confidence to businesses on
both sides of the Atlantic, and identify existing barriers to
trade. We are also laying the groundwork for a potential future
free trade agreement which will help boost our mutual trade
once we leave the EU.
Our meetings have already seen agreement to focus on areas
which will have a real impact on British businesses, from
better enforcing their intellectual property rights to
supporting the UK’s SMEs.
United States Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer said:
I thank Dr. Fox and his team for hosting our U.S. team in
London for the second meeting of the U.S.-UK Trade and
Investment Working Group.
The Working Group meetings have quickly developed into a key
mechanism to deepen our already strong bilateral trade and
investment relationship and to lay the groundwork for our
future trade relationship. This week our teams focused on
specific ways in which we can expand opportunities for our
businesses and workers, including for small and medium sized
enterprises. The work has deepened our understanding of our
respective trade and investment systems to prepare for our
future relationship once the UK has left the EU.
We look forward to building on our strong economic relationship
to achieve free and fair trade and create good-paying jobs on
both sides of the Atlantic.
Background
Trade between the two countries is already worth about £165
billion a year, the U.S. is the single biggest source of inward
investment into the UK, and together there is around £500 billion
invested in each other’s economies
