The UK is close to reaching an agreement with the EU on food and veterinary standards, which could complicate its trade negotiations with the United States, reported the newspaper The Daily Telegraph.
According to the publication, the new partnership between London and Brussels could be formalized as early as May. But the agreement could create barriers to access to the British market for some American goods, which would make it difficult to conclude a free trade agreement with the United States. After the Brexit referendum in 2016 The deal with Washington was hailed as the biggest, yet so far unseen, prize of leaving the EU.
The UK government's former chief Brexit negotiator David Frost warned that "one of the main demands of the Americans is access to the UK's food and agricultural markets".
"We will essentially give up the ability to set our own rules. That will make it harder to have free trade agreements with those countries we don't already have, particularly the US," Frost was quoted as saying by the newspaper.
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage criticised such a rapprochement with Brussels. "It's a very, very stupid move in a rapidly changing world. I think preserving the freedom to act is a priority. "In the long term, the US is a much more important target financially", he said. The plans of Prime Minister Keir Starmer's Labour government have also been criticised by the opposition Conservative Party. There, they have advocated a trade deal with "one of the largest economies in the world, rather than flirting with Brussels."
The British Prime Minister's Office did not provide a comment to The Daily Telegraph.