WARSAW, Poland �� British Prime Minister David Cameron said Saturday that the government needs to tap law firms, businesses and foreign talent for negotiators to broker the nation's trade deals as it prepares for its withdrawal from the European Union.
Britain's four-decade membership in the EU has left it with a dearth of its own experts, because the bloc coordinates trade negotiations centrally. Britain will have to deal with both EU nations and countries outside the bloc, including the United States and China.
"We're obviously going to have to tool up in terms of preparing for trade negotiations," Cameron said at a NATO meeting in Warsaw. "We'll seek the talent wherever we can get it. But don't underestimate the huge amount of talent that there is in British legal firms, in British business."
Business Secretary Sajid Javid said Friday that the government is seeking to hite 300 specialists staff, including trade negotiators, by year-end.
"I'm sure there will be opportunities to listen to experts from other countries, those that have been doing these things," Cameron said. He said he hadn't discussed with President Barack Obama remarks the he made before EU referendum last month that Britain would be at the "back of the queue" in negotiating a trade deal with the U.S.
"Everybody knows now that Britain is now in a process of working out the best end state for leaving the European Union," Cameron said. "But we don't have to wait until that happens until we start scoping out what are the trading and investing and other opportunities, and that's something we need to start with right away."
