LONDON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 30th October, 2020) Renowned marketer and business consultant Allyson Stewart-Allen said on Friday that the US has the upper hand in current trade talks with the UK government because it knows the UK "has a lot to lose" in the event of a no deal Brexit with the European Union.
"I think the US is in a really strong negotiating position because it knows the UK is somewhat desperate to get this deal done, while the clarity around the EU trade agreement advances," the Steward-Allen, a US citizen based in Europe for over 30 years, said in an online interview with London foreign correspondents.
According to the analyst, based on this perception, the US trade team will feel "emboldened" and will press to have the so-called chlorinated chicken, beef, the UK�s National Health Service, intellectual properties, agriculture and a lot of other topics on the negotiation table.
"The UK desperately needs America in terms of trade and as a trading partners, and I think if I were Liz Truss [the UK�s international trade secretary] who is doing the negotiations of the free trade agreement on behalf of the British government, and if I were the others around her in Downing Street, I�d be extremely nervous," she added.
After leaving the European Union on January 31, the UK embarked on trade negotiations with US, Japan, Australia and the EU, in an attempt to compensate for its departure from the European bloc.
Any deal coming from those negotiations will have to wait for the conclusion of the transition period agreed between London and Brussels as part of the Withdrawal Agreement, which is due to expire on December 31.
Asked about the impact of the upcoming US presidential elections on the current UK-US trade talks, Steward-Allen said that regardless of who wins on November 3, the UK�s negotiating power is "significantly diminished" because its economy is retracting and shrinking, in part of because of the COVID-19 pandemic, but also because of Brexit.
She said that whether President Donald Trump is reelected, or Joe Biden wins, the next US president will have other priorities.
"Obviously, the UK is important from a military and defense perspective as a strategic partner for the US, but in terms of exports, the UK is important but it�s not really the biggest trading partner for the United States," the business consultant said.
