UK minister Badenoch to make robust trade appeal in Washington

British Trade Minister Kemi Badenoch will address members of Congress and investors in Washington on Monday, signaling the start of the UK government’s latest post-Brexit attempt to boost economic ties with the US. 

In a UK government statement that highlighted how she’d be calling for a “muscular approach” to global trade, Badenoch will speak at the Cato Institute and encourage Western allies to future-proof the global economy against shocks. She will also meet senior Democrat and Republican representatives to bolster the case for closer transatlantic ties.

Meanwhile, UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak will meet with President Joe Biden at the G-20 summit in Bali this week.

A trade accord with the US remains the great hope of the UK’s post-Brexit export policy, but repeated rebuffs have left prime ministers from Boris Johnson to Liz Truss frustrated. Truss, during her short-lived premiership, said in September that talks wouldn’t resume for years.

Signs that relations between Brussels and London are thawing regarding trade and governance arrangements in Northern Ireland could mean there’s a better chance the Biden administration will be more receptive to the latest UK approach. 

With its large Irish diaspora and a president who speaks often of his Irish heritage, the US takes an active interest in ensuring the region’s 1998 peace treaty remains intact.