The paths of these two stars have intersected on several occasions due to their association with the luxury brand Bulgari
entertainment5 hours ago
US presidential candidate Joe Biden's recent warning that Britain must honour Northern Ireland's 1998 peace agreement to secure a US trade deal adds new complexity to already tough trade talks between the United States and the UK.
"We can't allow the Good Friday Agreement that brought peace to Northern Ireland to become a casualty of Brexit," Biden wrote on Twitter on Wednesday, referring to the deal that ended three decades of sectarian violence in Northern Ireland and created a shared regional government.
Biden was echoing Democratic House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi's warning last week that any move by Britain to erect physical customs borders between British-ruled Northern Ireland and European Union member Ireland meant "no chance" for a US-UK trade deal.
US President Donald Trump's special envoy to Northern Ireland, Mick Mulvaney, also warned against "creating a hard border by accident," telling the Financial Times that the Trump administration and Congress were aligned in their desire to preserve the 1998 Good Friday Agreement's border prohibitions.
The warnings come as US negotiators in the Trump administration wrap up a fourth round of trade talks with their British counterparts in Washington this week. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Wednesday the talks could "reach a successful conclusion before too long."
No matter how they end, US law gives Congress authority over trade policy. Trump has sometimes sidestepped that authority on trade issues, but US and British officials have said they are aiming for a comprehensive agreement that would need Congress's approval.
The US election on Nov. 3 is expected to leave the House in Democratic hands, giving extra weight to Pelosi's words.
Both the US and Britain have other hurdles to clear as well, trade experts say.
"Removing the Good Friday Agreement is a nonstarter, but there are five or six other potentially really difficult issues that the two countries are still far apart on," said Harry Broadman, managing director at the Berkeley Research Group and a former senior US trade official, including agriculture, the British healthcare system and Britain's proposed digital services tax.
NON-NEGOTIABLE
Asked about the Trump administration's view Thursday, US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer's office pointed to his June testimony to Congress, where he said there is no chance Congress would pass a trade deal if Britain put up borders in Ireland, violating the Good Friday Agreement.
"I've made that quite clear. The chairman (of the committee) has made it quite clear to me. The president agrees this is not something on which we're going to have a negotiation," he said.
The Good Friday Agreement is in jeopardy, some diplomats say, because of new legislation proposed by British Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
British trade officials have repeatedly said they are seeking a comprehensive trade deal and are not seeking to rush into an agreement before the US election, nor waiting to see who wins at the polls in November.
US and British trade negotiators were expected to discuss one of the thorniest issues between the two countries in the current round of trade talks: increased access for agricultural products.
British trade minister Liz Truss has pledged to drive a "hard bargain" with the United States, vowing that Britain would not diminish its food safety standards to import American products such as chlorine-treated poultry and genetically modified crops.
Britain wants access for lamb and beef exports to the United States.
Autos are the largest source of trade between the two economies, and another point of friction. Britain maintains a 10 per cent tariff on any US imports, four times the US tariff on British cars. An outstanding threat by Trump to impose 25 per cent tariffs on imported vehicles makes negotiating down the British rate unlikely, trade experts say.
Pompeo, speaking Wednesday at a news conference with British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab, said he trusted Britain to find a solution.
"We know the complexity of the situation," Pompeo said. "In the end, this will be a set of decisions with respect to this that the United Kingdom makes and (I) have great confidence that they will get this right in a way that treats everyone fairly and gets a good outcome."
Raab told CNN on Thursday that the 1998 agreement is "not in jeopardy."
"There is not going to be any hard border, certainly not applied by the UK," Raab said, adding that if the EU made a similar commitment, "it would also help the negotiations."
Jacob Funk Kirkegaard, a nonresident senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, said Biden's warning suggests that perhaps he is just not that interested in a deal.
"The phrasing of not wanting Northern Irish peace to be a victim of Brexit, that's a really forceful intervention by a potential future American president - basically disavowing the signature project that defines the current British government. It's difficult to imagine that wording is not reflective of Biden's overall interest in pursuing this deal."
Trump has developed close ties to Johnson, but Biden's warning suggests he may not do the same, he said.
"This signals to me that the 'special relationship' between a Biden administration and Boris Johnson's government, especially in a no-deal Brexit, is not going to be very special." - Reuters
The paths of these two stars have intersected on several occasions due to their association with the luxury brand Bulgari
entertainment5 hours ago
The students' demands range from a ceasefire in Israel's war with Hamas to calls for universities to stop investing in Israeli enterprises
world6 hours ago
Despite Kohli's flowing form ahead of the T20 World Cup in June, pundits have raised concerns over his strike-rate
cricket6 hours ago
Saudi Arabia has begun to explore extracting lithium from sea water
business6 hours ago
Speaking after meeting Lebanese leaders, French foreign minister says there had been "a lot of progress" over the French proposals
mena6 hours ago
The three-shot winner from Japan says he is aiming to become a member of the PGA Tour in the future
sports7 hours ago
Big-hitting Nienaber falters at the finish to settle for secondwhile former Abu Dhabi resident David Horsey takes the third spot at Saadiyat Beach Golf Club
sports7 hours ago
The UAE is India's second-largest export destination after the US
economy7 hours ago