On March 21 and 22 United Kingdom Secretary of State for
International Trade and United States
Trade Representative Ambassador Katherine Tai hosted the first
joint U.S./UK Dialogues on the Future of Atlantic Trade in
Baltimore, Maryland.
Following President Biden and Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s
announcement last year of a new ‘Atlantic Charter’, the U.S./UK
Dialogues on the Future of Atlantic Trade are exploring how the
United States and United Kingdom will collaborate to advance
mutual international trade priorities rooted in our shared
values, while promoting innovation and inclusive economic growth
for workers and businesses on both sides of the Atlantic.
Over the two-day period, Secretary of State and Ambassador
Katherine Tai, and Deputy U.S. Trade Representative Ambassador
Jayme White, visited the Port of Baltimore and a local technology
incubator, Fearless Tech; hosted a series of roundtable
discussions with a diverse group of national and local workers,
business and civil society stakeholders; and met bilaterally. In
addition, USTR and UK Department for International Trade staff
discussed opportunities for the United States and United Kingdom
to advance the U.S.-UK trade relationship and advance an
inclusive trade policy.
The stakeholder roundtables identified areas of consensus where
the UK and U.S can build and deepen their cooperation on trade.
This includes protecting labour rights and the environment;
promoting supply chain resilience; supporting the low-carbon
transition; making it easier for SMEs to export; and ensuring the
benefits of trade are evenly distributed across our countries.
Ambassador Katherine Tai and Secretary of State committed to:
- Reestablish the UK-US SME dialogue to continue to bring
together SMEs from both sides of the Atlantic to identify ways to
further support trade and investment;
- Harness the benefits of an open and competitive digital
economy, with appropriate safeguards for workers, consumers and
businesses;
- Build on the G7’s first ever set of Digital Trade Principles
during UK presidency, such as working towards the digitisation of
paper-based customs and other border agencies’ requirements to
cut red tape;
- Build strong, durable supply chains that can withstand future
global shocks;
- Strengthen the protection of labour rights and the
environment, with one another and our other trading partners;
- Tackle forced labour globally;
- Create incentives through trade to transition to a
decarbonised economy and protect our environment;
- Advance trade policy to consider gender, underserved and
marginalised communities as workers, consumers, entrepreneurs,
and producers; and
- Address third party market-distorting practices.
Secretary of State and Ambassador
Katherine Tai will use these Dialogues and their ongoing
engagement with stakeholders to identify further steps to move
forward our important U.S.-UK bilateral trade relationship and
address our shared challenges and opportunities over the coming
months. A second joint U.S./UK Dialogue on the Future of Atlantic
Trade is being planned for the UK in late April, 2022.
A full list of UK and U.S. stakeholders who attended the first
U.S./U.K Dialogue on the Future of Atlantic Trade will be
published in due course.
