Hopes fade for UK-US trade deal: what’s the alternative?

London eyeing US-Mexico-Canada pact but economists say benefits of joining would be extremely limited

Boris Johnson and Joe Biden in the White House
Boris Johnson and Joe Biden in the Oval Office on Tuesday
(Image credit: Nicholas Kamm/AFP)

Four years after Boris Johnson promised that the UK would be “first in line” for a post-Brexit trade deal with the US, hopes of such an agreement being reached are being played down by both London and Washington.

Asked about the possibility of a UK-US free trade agreement ahead of private talks with Johnson yesterday at the White House, Joe Biden said: “We're going to talk about trade a little bit today and we’re gonna have to work that through.”

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