Joe Biden has shelved plans for a pact with Britain that could have paved the way for a full post-Brexit trade deal.

The US president has decided not to move forward with a “foundational” agreement prepared by the US Trade Representative’s Office, that would have included negotiations over 11 areas of trade and regulation, following opposition from his own party in the Senate.

Senate Democrats argued that it would not have provided sufficient protection for American workers, Politico reported.

The UK’s hopes for a free trade agreement (FTA) with the US date from before the Brexit referendum, and faced an early setback when Barack Obama told voters that Britain would be “at the back of the queue” for a deal if it left the EU.

But despite US support for an FTA in the early days of Donald Trump’s presidency in 2016, the chance of a deal has now fallen to “zero” under Mr Biden, the Government believes.

  • 9point6@lemmy.world
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    11 months ago

    I mean I’m kinda glad tbh, I can’t think of an easier way for our food standards to go down the drain than with the Tories penning an FTA with the US

    • HumanPenguin
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      11 months ago

      You mean you don’t like the idea of an authorised no of rat hairs and cockroach guts per ton of peanut butter?

      • RealFknNito@lemmy.world
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        11 months ago

        … You mean contaminants that are inevitable? Man, don’t peak into the kitchen of your favorite restaurant. The FDA is far from perfect but you’re silly if you think your food is sterile.

        • Echo Dot
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          11 months ago

          But the FDA’s approach to the problem is to just give up. It’s pretty easy to not have rat hairs in your food, the key is to not have any rats in the factory.

          • RealFknNito@lemmy.world
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            11 months ago

            Well yeah, the F is severely underfunded, unfortunately. We needed to support the genocide in Israel this year, you see.