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NPPC pleased with Trump administration pursuit of closer trade with U.K.

The National Pork Producers Council (NPPC) is pleased the Trump Administration is pursuing closer trade relations with the United Kingdom (UK).

Last week, the President met with British Prime Minister Theresa May to discuss the possibility of a Free Trade Agreement once the U.K. leaves the European Union (EU).

NPPC director of communications Dave Warner says bilateral trade with England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales–the countries that make up the United Kingdom—would benefit U.S. producers.

“The EU has tariffs on our pork going in there, and then they have some non-tariff barriers that really limit U.S. pork exports to the EU.  And those were things that we were trying to eliminate in the negotiations on the Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (T-TIP), but the EU wasn’t budging on that.”

U.S. pork exports to the U.K. were valued at about $4 million dollars in 2015, but Warner says EU trade barriers stand in the way of greater access.

“The United Kingdom is the second-largest consumer of pork in the world, just behind China.  Yet, the United States sends pork to the EU that represents less than one percent of that consumption.”

A potential caveat, Warner says, is the possibility the U.K. won’t be allowed to formally leave the EU for up to two years.

Trump and May agreed to set up working groups in preparation of future negotiations once the so-called Brexit is completed.