Rachel Reeves has insisted the UK won’t be “relaxing” its food standards in a bid to secure a trade deal with the US.
The Chancellor, who is in Washington DC for the International Monetary Fund (IMF) spring meetings, spoke ahead of her expected talks with US Treasury secretary Scott Bessent.
Asked whether the UK government would have to choose between allowing US food standards in the UK, or aligning more closely with the EU, Reeves told the BBC: “We’ve been really clear since the beginning of our discussions with our US counterparts, that we’re not going to be reducing agricultural standards in the UK, and the US administration respect and understand that.
“We have high standards to support British farming and support British consumers, and we’re not going to be relaxing those standards.”
Reeves also admitted that the “world has changed” and stressed that the UK was “looking for a deal in our country’s national interest to better protect and promote jobs and investment into the UK”.
Asked whether she was referring to US President Donald Trump’s sweeping new global trade tariffs, Reeves said: “I believe in free trade. I think that is good for countries around the world, but it’s also got to be fair trade.
“I do understand the concerns that the United States has about countries around the world that run large and persistent trade surpluses with the US.
“The UK is not one of those countries, which is why I do believe that there is a deal there to be done between the UK and the US, to promote trade, to reduce trade barriers, to better support jobs and investment, both in the UK and in the US.”
She highlighted that the government has “announced a review on low value imports coming into the UK, undercutting the British high street and British retailers”.
And pressed on whether the UK was being “treated more harshly by President Trump than almost anybody else, apart from China”, the Chancellor stressed: “I wouldn’t recognize the way you’ve portrayed that. The headline tariff on the UK after the 90 days pause is, of course, lower than many countries around the world.
“But am I happy with that outcome? Of course not, which is why we are in extensive discussions at the moment with the US about securing an economic agreement, an agreement to reduce those tariff and non-tariff barriers between our countries.
“But also to build on the successful defense and national security partnership between our countries and turn that into a new technology partnership to support some of the fastest growing sectors of the economy, and to build on the scientific enterprise that we see both in the UK and US, where I think there is scope for really enhancing and building on those relationships, to get those jobs, and bring that investment to Britain.”
