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Starmer’s trade plans don’t include the US – Is he simply fixated on pivoting back to the EU?
Montage © Facts4EU.Org 2024
Fifth and final part in our “UK Brexports to the US” series, with Reform UK’s Richard Tice and the Texas US State Governor, Greg Abbott
Yesterday the Facts4EU.Org think-tank revealed the latest official information on the UK’s State-by-State trade pacts agreed by the previous United Kingdom government across the US. GB News were ahead of the curve on this, and covered our exclusive and pre-published reports on the Martin Daubney show starting on Friday 08 November, ahead of any other broadcaster.
In this fifth and final report in our “UK ‘Brexports’ to the US” series, we ask if the new Labour Government of Sir Keir Starmer is interested in pursuing the massive trade opportunities with the UK’s largest trading partner, the US? Or will he continue to pivot towards the smaller and slower-growing market of the EU27?
Today we summarise the information we published in the first four reports in this series and look to the future. We do so with the help of the Deputy Leader of Reform UK Richard Tice MP, the Governor of the State of Texas, Greg Abbott, the House of Commons Library, and Sarah Elliott of Republicans Overseas UK.
Brexit Facts4EU.Org Summary
Highlights from our five-part ‘UK Brexports to the US’ series
- UK’s Top 25 fastest-growing export markets : 6 of them are members of the Commonwealth
- Only 5 of them are members of the EU
- UK exports to the Rest of the World are growing much faster than to the EU
- EU27 : +44.2% increase, Rest of World : +53.7%
- US is almost 3 times more important to the UK than the EU’s No.1 economy Germany
- “God bless America” – UK’s largest export market bought £187 Bn from us last year
- Since 2016, UK exports to Trump’s USA grew over 1.5 TIMES FASTER than exports to EU
- UK’s exports of goods and services to the US have grown by almost 70% since the Referendum in 2016
- This compares with only 44% growth to the EU
- In 2023 UK exports to the EU27 were £356.3 bn (41.4%)
- In 2023 UK exports to the Rest of the World were £505.0 bn (58.6%)
- UK now has EIGHT trade deals with US states
- These 8 US states have a total economy larger than 23 EU countries COMBINED
- Latest trade pact with Texas plus the other seven states together have a total GDP of $7.33 TRILLION
- Only two EU countries have economies larger than that of Texas
The big question for the new Labour Government
It must be asked if the new Labour Government of Sir Keir Starmer is interested in pursuing the massive trade opportunities with the UK’s largest trading partner, the US? Or will he continue to pivot towards the smaller and slower-growing market of the EU27?
Below is the chart we published in Part II, showing just how big the US market is for the UK, compared to any EU country.
© Brexit Facts4EU.Org 2024 – click to enlarge
The analysis of the independent and trusted House of Commons Library researchers on Labour plans was clear.
“The new government’s plans for FTA [Free trade agreements] negotiations did not mention the US,” says independent and authoritative House of Commons Library report (end Sept).
Brexit Facts4EU.Org Summary
Summary of this fifth and final part in our “UK Brexports to the US” series
- Sir Keir Starmer is warning Trump trade war’s impact “could be as big as Brexit”, (which he means negatively), and puts officials on alert
- “The US is easily our most important trading partner, much more so than even the largest countries in the EU,” says Reform UK’s Tice
- Kemi Badenoch weighs in, calling the return of President Trump “a golden opportunity”
- “I worry Labour is not interested in anything except the EU”
- “A US-UK FTA is one of the biggest Brexit prizes”
- Starmer’s plans don’t include the US
- “The new government’s plans for FTA negotiations did not mention the US,” says independent and authoritative House of Commons Library report (end Sept)
The Deputy Leader of Reform UK, Richard Tice, told us:
“This excellent suite of reports by Facts4EU.Org for CIBUK and GB News clearly shows what an excellent opportunity there is for the United Kingdom, if we grasp it.
“The facts are clear. The US is easily our most important trading partner, much more so than even the largest countries in the European Union. Whilst our exports to the EU have been holding up, we must set our sights globally and surely there is nowhere better to start than with the United States, now that Donald Trump has been re-elected in a landslide victory.
“It is very worrying that our new Government led by Sir Keir Starmer is once again letting us all down. With the House of Commons Library’s report stating that a trade deal with the US isn’t even on Labour’s agenda, this begs the question of whether this government is truly acting in our best interests, or if it is acting along ideological grounds.
“The US economy is growing much faster than that of the EU and this is set to accelerate under the new administration. Reform UK’s position is clear. We would actively pursue a trade deal with President-Elect Trump’s USA. This has the potential to boost exports as well as providing a greater choice for UK consumers with good value products from the US.
“Labour’s ideological antipathy towards Donald Trump must not be allowed to stand in the way of the interests of the people of the United Kingdom.
“The US is also our most important defence partner, and we should enhance our intelligence capabilities together.”
– Richard Tice MP, commenting exclusively to Facts4EU.Org, CIBUK.Org, and GB News, 14 Nov 2024
New Conservative Leader Kemi Badenoch
On Sunday, new Conservative Leader Kemi Badenoch called the return of President Trump a “golden opportunity” for the UK. She wrote in the Telegraph:
- “The onus is now on the Labour Government to put aside their embarrassing student politics diplomacy, which has already shot Britain in the foot on Israel and the Chagos Islands, and go full steam ahead to secure a deal that will enrich the people and businesses of the UK.”
- “I worry Labour is not interested in anything except the EU. A US-UK FTA is one of the biggest Brexit prizes.”
- “We must not be held back by Labour’s barely concealed contempt for, and juvenile depictions of, President Trump.”
- “Picking up our ready-made deal and making a concerted effort to get it signed would finally prove that Starmer is willing to do as he’s said, and put country before party. Anything less would be yet another betrayal of the British people’s trust.”
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Here are the views of Governor Greg Abbott of the great US State of Texas
“As our ninth largest trade partner, the United Kingdom plays a critical role in the Texas economic juggernaut. Strengthening the bond between Texas and the United Kingdom is crucial for our shared economies to prosper.”
“Texas is the economic engine of America, where entrepreneurs from around the globe can cast a vision and know they can achieve it. Working with our British partners, we will chart a greater path towards success and opportunity and create an even more robust economic partnership.”
– Texas State Governor Greg Abbott
The State of Texas is just one example of the opportunities for Brexit Britain – but it’s a good one
Flying over to London to cement the UK-Texas trade pact, the Governor’s delegation included First Lady Cecilia Abbott, Secretary of State Jane Nelson, the Governor’s Economic Development & Tourism Office Executive Director Adriana Cruz, and Texas Economic Development Corporation President & CEO Aaron Demerson. Governor Abbott highlighted several UK companies that have made significant investments in Texas, including BP’s new 187 megawatt solar project, JCB’s new construction equipment manufacturing facility, Linde’s $1.8 billion investment to supply clean hydrogen to OCI’s blue ammonia plant, and BAE Systems new engineering and production facility.
The United Kingdom leads all nations for the number of foreign direct investment projects in Texas, and Texas is No.1 among the states for exports to the United Kingdom. In 2023, Texas trade with the United Kingdom totaled $18.2 billion, making it the state’s ninth-largest total trade partner. In the last decade, companies from the United Kingdom have invested $8.6 billion in capital investment through 326 projects in Texas, creating more than 18,200 Texas jobs.
We end on the key question
Will Sir Keir Starmer and his new Labour government continue to pivot towards the smaller and slower-growing market of the EU27?
Observations
In this five-part series on UK exports the Facts4EU.Org think-tank team has used the latest official data to show the success of Brexit Britain in exporting since the EU Referendum, and the relative importance of the US, the EU, and world markets.
The results of our research leave the Remainer-Rejoiners with nowhere to go. The simple facts are that the US continues to be far-and-away the single most important market for the United Kingdom’s businesses and for its economy and jobs.
At the same time, we have Sir Keir Starmer’s Government saying that its focus is on the Gulf, plus India, Israel, South Korea, Switzerland and Turkey. Our view is that the Government should be working on all of these, but it’s deeply worrying if the Government does not even mention US trade at all, given that it dominates. The US is growing much faster than the EU and in any case is far more important to British jobs and to the health of the British economy.
Our concern is whether this is simply ideological. With President Trump shortly to enter the White House, surely it’s now essential to test the ground with the incoming administration in Washington DC? We can only hope the new Labour Government can put aside its ideological differences with the President-Elect, and work hard and fast towards a trade deal with the US that avoids the imminent high tariffs which it seems likely the new President will impose on foreign imports.
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Brexit Facts4EU.Org, Thurs 14 Nov 2024
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