WASHINGTON – If President Donald Trump wants to talk about a “quick” trade deal with British Prime Minister Theresa May at the White House on Friday, he may be disappointed, former U.S. Ambassador to the European Union C. Boyden Gray said Thursday.
“It doesn’t make much sense because technically, legally the U.K. is not even allowed to start negotiations until after they’ve left the EU,” Gray said. “I don’t know if our president really knows that or not.”
Trump said he wants a “quick” trade deal with U.K. during an interview with The Times of London newspaper five days before his inauguration.
“Of course, you can’t stop people from talking,” Gray said at an Atlantic Council event. “But it can’t happen for quite a while because you can’t negotiate formally and it takes a long time for negotiation to begin with.”
Gray, who also was White House counsel under President George H.W. Bush, said if a trade deal eventually is reached, it likely would be better for Great Britain then for the United States.
“Any reduction in trade barriers is positive,” he added.
The U.S. is Britain’s biggest export destination after the EU, accounting for over 15% of the country’s exports, according to Britain’s Revenue and Customs department.
Last week, May confirmed that Britain would leave the EU’s single market and customs union, allowing it to sign trade agreements of its own after the process of exit is complete.
The process includes the “Brexit bill,” which Parliament must approve to empower the prime minister to start the two-year negotiation period for Britain to leave the 28-nation bloc.
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