[CTC] First meeting on U.S.-U.K. trade talks set for next month

[Arthur Stamoulis]

	Politico Pro   
 		Fox: First meeting on U.S.-U.K. trade talks set for next month
By MEGAN CASSELLA <https://www.politicopro.com/staff/megan-cassella>

The U.K. has created trade working groups focused on landing a bilateral free trade agreement with the United States, and the two sides will hold an initial meeting next month, U.K. International Trade Secretary Liam Fox said today.
"We have trade working groups already set up to do the preliminary scoping-out work, and the first meeting will in fact be in July of this year," Fox said during a discussion at the SelectUSA Investment Summit, a Commerce Department event being held in Maryland.
He noted that while the U.K. is not allowed to conclude any talks before it completes its exit from the European Union — a process that is slated to conclude in March 2019 — "we are of course allowed to scope out the future relationship that we will require as we do leave." Formal Brexit talks began today <http://www.politico.eu/article/eu-and-uks-brexit-talks-start-off-on-right-foot/>.
A British Embassy spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for additional details about the coming US-U.K. meeting.
Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, who sat alongside Fox at the discussion, added that the U.S. has "made it clear we're prepared to begin as soon as U.K. is ready."
Fox's appearance at the annual summit was part of a visit to Washington that he said is focused on exploring early trade talks with the U.S., including by examining existing continuity agreements with the EU that cover economics, security and trade.
"We will want to make sure that we continue those as we leave the European Union, so there's no disruption to markets or to traders," he said. "That's very important that we do so."
Beyond that, emphasis will be placed on finding areas for improvement and on looking at new opportunities, he said.
"The more we're able to liberalize our economies, the more attractive we become for investment, the bigger trade is likely to be between us, and, ultimately — the most important thing — the greater the prosperity we can offer to our people," he said.

Arthur Stamoulis
Citizens Trade Campaign
(202) 494-8826




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