Playing chicken

Besides being important in themselves, the trade talks between Britain and the United States which began this week are symbolic of the opportunities that should become available as we leave the European Union. For years we have dealt with the US, our biggest single customer, under burdensome tariffs and other regulation — but we had no choice. The EU handled trade policy and it never succeeded in completing a trade deal with any of its major trade partners. Britain, by contrast, has always been more global than Europe in its outlook. The vote for Brexit was, among other things, a vote to raise our sights to more distant horizons.

At the time of the referendum, a bilateral trade deal with the US looked unlikely for political reasons. Barack Obama notoriously declared that Britain would be ‘at the back of the queue’. But the mood in Washington has changed, and a trade agreement with Britain is now in the political interests of the President, who has said he is looking forward to a ‘major’ deal, as well as of the Republicans in Congress, led by Paul Ryan.