EnPresident Donald Trump has decided to prioritize the EU for a future trade deal before starting negotiations with the U.K., The Times reports, after conversations with Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany. Negotiations to create a deal under the Obama administration, the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, had stalled with significant progress still to be made as outlined in Panjiva research of January 17.
The move does not change what was likely to happen anyway. The U.K. would not legally be able to sign a deal until it had left the European Union, which isn’t due until March 2019. Furthermore the Trump administration’s trade focus so far has been on reducing the U.S. trade deficit. Panjiva data for U.S. imports and exports shows that it runs a deficit of $149.4 billion with the European Union excluding the U.K. in the 12 months to February 28. It has a trade surplus with the U.K. of around $914 million. Furthermore the deficit with the EU excluding Germany has steadily been increasing and set a new high in the past year, while that with Germany itself has fallen 14.4% from its peak. The administration would therefore gain more in striking a deal with the EU than the U.K.
Source: Panjiva
