BBC News - UK and US in talks over mini trade deal

 The outgoing US administration is in talks with the UK to try to seal a mini-deal to reduce trade tariffs, Donald Trump's trade chief has said.

US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer told the BBC he was hopeful for a deal that could see punitive tariffs on Scottish whisky lowered.

The UK recently said it would drop tariffs against the US over subsidies for aerospace firms.

This was in a bid to reach a post-Brexit trade deal with Washington.

In his first international interview, Mr Lighthizer suggested the UK would need to go further than last week's announcement breaking with the EU's support of European plane maker Airbus.

"I'm talking to [International Trade Secretary] Liz Truss, about trying to work out some kind of a deal... I'm hopeful we can get some kind of an agreement out you know, we don't have a lot of time left," he said.

"We have the advantage in that both the US and the UK - particularly the current government of the UK - are not big subsidisers, where some other countries are more inclined to subsidise. So it would be helpful if we could come to some kind of agreement," he said when asked about lowering tariffs on whisky and cashmere. "We are in discussions, we'll see how that works out."

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Last week, the UK unilaterally broke with European support of Airbus in a long-running transatlantic trade dispute, changing policy expressed only in January this year of ongoing support even after Brexit, by announcing it would no longer apply tariffs to imports of Boeing aircraft.

Liz Truss said that she wanted to "de-escalate" the 16-year-old conflict over subsidies.

The Airbus-Boeing tariff row

However, the BBC understands that in a phone call, the USTR told the trade secretary directly that the US would not treat this as a concession, because, outside of the EU, the UK had "no authority" to continue to apply retaliatory measures on the US.

"For sure, it's true that the UK as an individual was not a party to that Airbus-Boeing litigation, right," said Mr Lighthizer.

"We brought an action against the EU, France, Germany and the UK. The EU just brought one against us, the member states did not in all cases. so there's no question that as a legal point, that is correct," he added.

Instead, the US wants the UK to make concessions on the separate EU dispute over steel and aluminium, where US bourbon was among products upon which European tariffs were levied.

The talks are part of a general move by President Trump's trade team to wrap up the Boeing-Airbus dispute with the EU, and the UK separately, outside the auspices of the World Trade Organization (WTO).

The US' top trade negotiator also explained why, despite high hopes even this year for a full US-UK free trade agreement, the next administration had a "short period" now in the first half of 2021 to try to wrap up a deal.

While he said it was "extremely likely" that a full deal would be struck "before long", he emphasised that "tough compromises have to be made" on agricultural issues, for example.

'Each side has to get something out of it'

Asked about demands to adapt UK food standards on beef and chicken, as well as reforms to the way the NHS pays for US medicines, Mr Lighthizer said: "These negotiations are ongoing.

"You know, clearly, the US needs to get additional access to the agricultural market in the UK - that's an important part of it, each side has to get something out of it. These are complicated technical issues. And they're the kinds of things that will be worked out, I think, in the in the final stages of negotiation."

He also indicated that the US team were never convinced that the UK was actually going fully to depart from EU trade rules, because of the sheer amount of UK-EU trade, despite that being the stated policy of the current government.

"The Brexit situation was always something that was on our mind, if you think about it," he stressed.

"The nature of our relationship is going to be affected by the nature of the relationship between the EU and the UK, right. They're a much bigger trading partner to you than we are, so that has an impact... I've always had the view that there's just an awful lot of trade between the UK and the EU and it was hard to see there weren't going to be any rules to that."

Mr Lighthizer made it clear that giving the US "new access" to UK markets was important, but would be "less significant" should the same deal be offered by the UK to another country.

"But, you know, that'll be sorted out here probably in the next two or three weeks or so... one way or another. And then I think there's no reason why the US and the UK can't get to a deal fairly expeditiously after that," he added.

Mr Lighthizer confirmed that the Trump administration was still planning to hit back against countries levying digital services tax hitting big US tech firms "unfairly".

He also defended the actions of the current administration in ripping up decades of multilateral action in building a global trade system.

However, he said he had no regrets and had helped "reorient the global trading system" to help ordinary American workers rather than large corporations.

Reuters News - Buffett says U.S. fighting 'economic war,' Congress must help small businesses

 (Reuters) - Warren Buffett said on Tuesday the United States is fighting an “economic war,” and that Congress must step up quickly to help struggling small businesses that have become “collateral damage” in the coronavirus pandemic.

Speaking on CNBC television, the billionaire chairman of Berkshire Hathaway Inc said he hopes Congress provides new stimulus soon, and extends “on a large scale” the popular Paycheck Protection Program, which was established earlier this year to provide loans to the nation’s smallest employers.

“It’s an economic war,” Buffett said. “We need another injection to complete the job. Congress is debating that right now, and I hope very much that they extend the PPP plan on a large scale to let the people who may see the light at the end of the tunnel get to the end of the tunnel.”

Small businesses, he said, “have become collateral damage in a war that our country needed to fight.”

Some pandemic relief programs are slated to lapse by the end of the year.

A bipartisan group of U.S. lawmakers unveiled a proposed $748 billion aid package on Monday that includes $300 billion of small business relief.

Buffett, 90, said that while the Federal Reserve has done a “terrific job” shoring up the economy, the pandemic’s impact remains uneven, likening the “economic war” to when some U.S. industries retrenched to support the country during World War Two.

He said that even within the food industry, manufacturers and large supermarkets have performed well while social distancing and other restrictions have devastated restaurants.

“It just killed the economics for somebody that may have been working for decades with their families to build a business,” he said.

Buffett said Congress should act before breaking for the Christmas holidays.

“If you’re going to act a month from now, why kill off another X percent of the people who are potential successes by procrastination or arguments or political differences?” he said. “So let’s get people across the bridge.”

Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by Andrew Heavens and Paul Simao

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

BBC News - Brexit: UK and EU restart trade talks after leaders' call

 

Michel Barnier is leading the EU's negotiating team in Monday's talks

Negotiators for the UK and EU have restarted talks over a post-Brexit trade deal as they search for a breakthrough in securing an agreement.

It comes after the two sides decided on Sunday there had been enough progress for negotiations to continue.

PM Boris Johnson has warned the sides remain "very far apart" in key areas, but "where there's life there's hope".

Time is fast running out to finalise an agreement before the UK's Brexit transition ends in just over two weeks.

The decision to keep talking came after Mr Johnson discussed the main sticking points with EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Sunday.

A new deadline for a decision has not been set - but the ultimate deadline comes on 31 December, when the UK stops following EU trading rules.

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Without a trade deal in place by then, the two sides would begin trading on World Trade Organization (WTO) terms, meaning taxes - or tariffs - would be introduced, potentially raising the cost of imported goods such as food.

Fishing rights, "level playing field" rules on how far the UK should be able to diverge from EU laws, and how any agreement should be policed remain the major stumbling blocks.

The EU's chief negotiator Michel Barnier has resumed talks with his UK counterpart Lord Frost, after briefing ambassadors of EU member states.

According to an EU source, Mr Barnier is believed to have told them talks over a level playing field remained hard, but were moving towards an agreement.

He is also said to have told them a wider deal could fall into place if a route towards an agreement on fishing rights can be identified.

Ahead of the negotiators meeting in Brussels, Business Secretary Alok Sharma said the UK was "not going to be walking away from these talks," although the UK would not continue negotiations beyond the 31 December deadline.

However, he added "quite significant progress" would be required in a number of areas for an agreement to be reached.

Speaking at an event on Monday, Mrs von der Leyen said there had been "movement" in the talks and negotiators had not exhausted all options.

And she said the issue of the level playing field was the "one and only important question" if UK should continue to have access to the EU's single market.

The Commission president added: "They have either to play by our rules, because this is a matter of fairness for our companies... or the other choice is there is a price on it, and the price is border and tariffs."

Labour's shadow Cabinet Office minister Rachel Reeves welcomed the continuation of the talks and said the worst outcome would be to "crash out with no deal whatsoever on 1 January".

The basics

• Brexit happened but rules didn't change at once: The UK left the European Union on 31 January 2020, but leaders needed time to negotiate a deal for life afterwards - they got 11 months.
• Talks are happening: The UK and the EU have until 31 December 2020 to agree a trade deal as well as other things, such as fishing rights.
• If there is no deal: Border checks and taxes will be introduced for goods travelling between the UK and the EU. But deal or no deal, we will still see changes.

What happens next with Brexit?

This new phase of the talks is expected to focus on how close the UK should stick to EU economic rules in the future.

The EU is determined to prevent the UK from gaining what it sees as an unfair advantage of having tariff-free access to its markets - not paying taxes on goods being bought and sold - while setting its own standards on products, employment rights and business subsidies.

The EU is reported to have dropped the idea of a formal mechanism to ensure both sides keep up with each other's standards and is now prepared to accept UK divergence - provided there are safeguards to prevent unfair competition.

Fishing rights is another major area of disagreement, with the EU warning that without access to UK waters for EU fleets, UK fishermen will no longer get special access to EU markets to sell their goods.

But the UK argues that what goes on in its own waters, and its wider business rules, should be under its control as a sovereign country.

What does it mean in Brexit trade deal terms "to go the extra mile"?

That's the distance the UK Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, and the European Commission chief, Ursula von der Leyen, have promised to travel over the next days.

But will the road take them to deal or no-deal? And who will compromise on what to get there?

EU contacts close to the talks say both sides are being constructive. They insist negotiations aren't simply continuing because neither the EU, nor the government want to be blamed in a no-deal scenario and prefer not to walk away first.

Remember: what's said in front of the cameras is only part of the picture.

We aren't behind the scenes in the negotiating room or on the closed calls between Mr Johnson and Ms von der Leyen.

But however long these talks rumble on, ultimately neither the government, nor the EU, will sign up to a deal if they can't claim it as a victory.

Read more from Katya here.

The National Farmers' Union has warned there will be "significant disruption" to the sector if the UK fails to reach a trade deal with the EU.

And the British Retail Consortium warned the public would face "over £3bn in food tariffs [meaning] retailers would have no choice but to pass on some of these additional costs to their customers".

Reuters News - With COVID-19 vaccine ready to ship, U.S. reassures Americans it is safe

 (Reuters) -With Pfizer Inc's and BioNTech SE's BNTX.O COVID-19 vaccine distribution imminent after U.S. authorization on Friday, top regulators sought to reassure Americans that the record fast pace was warranted and had not sacrificed safety.

“We worked quickly based on the urgency of this pandemic, not because of any other external pressure,” U.S. Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Stephen Hahn said during a press conference.

The United States on Friday evening granted an emergency use authorization for the vaccine for people aged 16 and older. It was shown to be 95% effective in preventing COVID-19 in a late-stage trial.

It is the first COVID-19 vaccine authorized in the United States, where the pandemic has killed more than 295,000 people. Britain, Canada and three other countries have already authorized the shot from U.S.-based Pfizer and German partner BioNTech.

The Trump administration has poured billions of dollars into developing vaccines and will manage the distribution and allocation to states. The first 2.9 million doses are expected to roll out of Pfizer plants in the coming days, with more shipments each week.

Healthcare workers and elderly people in long-term care facilities are expected to be the main recipients of the first wave of shots in December, with more U.S. residents becoming eligible in January. Authorities have said general availability of the vaccine is expected by April.

Reporting by Michael Erman in New York, additional reporting by Lucia Mutikani in Washington; Writing by Caroline Humer; Editing by Daniel Wallis and Tom Brown

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles,

BBC News - Brexit: UK and Singapore sign free trade agreement

 

Singapore and the UK signed a free trade deal in the Southeast Asian city-state on Thursday.

The deal will cover a trade relationship worth more than $22bn (£17bn).

The agreement largely mirrors an existing deal between Singapore and the European Union (EU).

It is part of a broader set of trade negotiations for the UK, as it tries to replicate trade pacts which will cease when the EU transition period ends.

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Britain's secretary of state of international trade, Liz Truss, and Singapore's trade minister, Chan Chun Sing, signed the deal at a ceremony in Singapore.

The deal comes as British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and the European Union's chief executive gave themselves until the end of the weekend to seal a new trade pact, following a three-hour dinner that left the two sides "far apart".

What does the deal do?

The agreement removes tariffs and gives both countries access to each other's markets in services.

It will also cut non-tariff barriers for electronics, cars and vehicle parts, pharmaceutical products, medical devices and renewable energy generation.

Duties will be eliminated by November 2024, the same timeline as the pact between the EU and Singapore.

"Beyond the significant benefits to our respective businesses, the (deal) is a strong statement against protectionism and nativism," said Mr Chan.

He added that it will be "crucial in ensuring a strong and resilient post-pandemic recovery for the world".

The deal will be important for Singapore, which counts Britain among its top trading partners for goods and services globally, and its top investment destination in Europe.

The agreement is also the UK's first with a member of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

The 10-country bloc is home to 650 million people and, prior to the pandemic, was a key growth region.

Although Singapore is a small country, it's a key financial and trading hub which serves as a regional headquarters for many multinationals operating in Southeast Asia.

Prawn dumplings and spicy anchovies are just some of the food products Singapore will be able to sell more of to the UK - and in return Singaporean companies will get a chance to bid for more government projects there.

But while both sides are keen to tout this deal as a success - it is effectively a rollover of the EU Singapore free trade agreement.

And it's not massively significant in terms of size and scale: Singapore accounts for just a fraction of the UK's total exports.

In 2019, the UK sold just under £9bn pounds worth of goods and services to the island.

But what the deal lacks in size, it might make up in symbolism.

The two countries have always had strong historical links.

Singapore is a former British colony, and many in the city-state study in the UK or work there.

It's also a gateway for businesses to access the rest of the region.

As Brexit edges closer, the UK needs all the friends it can line up and time is running out.

Replacing EU deals

While it was an EU member, the UK was automatically part of around 40 trade deals which the EU had with more than 70 countries.

In 2018, these deals represented about 11% of total UK trade.

So far, more than 20 of these existing deals have been rolled over and will start next year.

The UK also signed a trade deal with Japan in October, ensuring 99% of UK exports there will be free of tariffs.

Any country without a deal will trade with the UK under World Trade Organisation rules.

BBC News - Brexit: Pound recovers ground as Johnson sets talks in Brussels

 The pound has fallen against the euro and the dollar, as traders reacted to the growing prospect of a no-deal Brexit.

But news that Prime Minister Boris Johnson will travel to Brussels in a last-ditch effort to salvage a trade deal with the EU, caused it to recover some losses.

Sterling fell about 1% to €1.098 in afternoon trading in London, its lowest level in more than six weeks.

Later it rebounded slightly to €1.10.

The pound also slipped against the dollar before recovering ground to trade 0.49% lower at $1.34.

Traders' hopes were raised when it was announced Mr Johnson will meet with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen later this week.

UK and EU negotiators have been locked in talks to secure a post-Brexit deal before 31 December, when the UK's transition period ends.

Disputes over fishing and business rules remain, with the UK government saying discussions in Brussels have reached "a critical moment".

The EU mood was described as "gloomy" as chief negotiator Michel Barnier met UK counterpart Lord Frost.

The pair will continue talks on Tuesday, drawing up a list of the differences that remain between the two sides.

Cabinet Office minister Penny Mordaunt told the House of Commons: "We are all working to get a deal, but the only way that's possible is if it's compatible with our sovereignty and takes back control of our country's trade and waters."

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• What happens if there's a no-deal Brexit?

Asked when the cut-off point for a deal was, a European Commission spokesman said: "We are not going to speculate on a last-chance date.

"We are fully committed to substantial negotiations. We've always said and continue to say it's the substance that prevails over timing."

Earlier, Irish Foreign Minister Simon Coveney described the EU negotiating team's frame of mind as "gloomy" and "downbeat".

The FTSE 100 share index drifted in and out of positive territory during the day, and finished virtually flat at 6,555 points.

Investors are also awaiting an EU summit starting on Thursday to break an impasse over a 1.8 trillion-euro coronavirus aid package, as well as the last European Central Bank policy meeting of the year on the same day.