Briefings A US-UK trade deal: issues from a civil society perspective
A US-UK trade deal: issues from a civil society perspective
The UK’s decision to leave the EU, including the Single Market and Customs Union, means that as of February 2020 and for the first time in nearly 45 years the UK can pursue its own independent trade deals. A deal with the US has been touted as one of the major prizes of Brexit because the US is the UK’s single largest trade partner (though only if EU member states are treated as individual countries) and the EU has to date failed to agree such a deal.
This report looks at issues in the the proposed US-UK trade deal, from a civil society perspective.
The report has 3 sections:
Section 1: Getting the process right: the need for public and parliamentary scrutiny
Section 2: Implications of a US-UK deal for social and environmental objectives
- Climate and the environment
- Food and agriculture
- Healthcare
- Digital rights
- Labour rights
- International development
Section 3: Understanding the key provisions of a US-UK trade deal
- Regulatory cooperation
- Investment protection and Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS)
- Services
- Government procurement
The report aims to comprehensively address these different issues in a US-UK trade agreement, and produce recommendations about how the UK government should act now to safeguard the UK's social and environmental protections, and seek a more just and sustainable trade policy.
