Britain must avoid compromise with the EU over the Brexit divorce deal if it wants a quick free trade agreement with the US, Donald Trump’s senior adviser has said.
Speaking at the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) conference, the US commerce secretary, Wilbur Ross, issued a warning regarding the Brexit negotiations.
Mr Ross refuted claims that it could take ten years for the US and the UK to reach an agreement and has instead claimed it could happen within months.
But he did suggest there would be problems if the UK chose to keep the current EU ban on genetically modified food and chlorinated chicken.
His trip to the UK had allowed him to “address with the UK some concerns we have that they may be tempted to include (provisions) in their agreement with the European Commission (EC) that could be problems for a subsequent FTA (Free Trade Agreement) with the US”, he said, according to The Telegraph.
He also added: “The EU rules are not science-based. This could potentially create problems with us. What happens will be very much conditioned by the terms of the departure agreement between the UK and the EU.
“It is ... important that an eventual Brexit agreement takes into account our commercial interests, and does not hinder development of a closer post-Brexit US-UK relationship by continuing divergent standards and regulations and other protectionist measures.
The news comes as Mr Trump continues his tour of Asia. The US president sparked controversy by upending a box of fish food into a pond of koi carp during a tradition intended to welcome visiting guests at the Akasaka Palace in Tokyo.
Mr Trump joined Shinzo Abe, the Prime Minister of Japan, in feeding the valuable colourful fish, which are not able to eat large amounts of food, by spooning food from a box during the ceremony.
Mr Abe finished by flicking the remaining food in his box into the pond at which point Mr Trump upended his with a smirk and made Secretary of State Rex Tillerson chuckle and Mr Abe smile in the process.
