Boris Johnson is pressuring Joe Biden for a new trade deal

Washington – British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Saturday to President Joe Biden that he was ready to conclude a new trade agreement between the United States and Great Britain.

Pressure for a new deal came during a telephone conversation between the two leaders in which various issues were discussed, including the global response to the coronavirus pandemic and the announcement this week by the Biden government that the United States would join the agreement. Paris on climate change and to the World Health Organization (WHO), according to a statement from Downing Street.

A new trade agreement between the allies is a higher priority for Johnson than for Biden. The United Kingdom regained control of its national trade policy earlier this month after the end of the post-Brexit transition period.

White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said Friday that Washington has no deadline to finalize a new trade deal because Biden is focusing more on controlling the coronavirus pandemic and urging Congress to adopt an assistance plan for $ 1.9 trillion COVID-19.

Janett Yellen, whom Biden nominated as Secretary of the Treasury, also stressed at the confirmation hearing earlier this week that the US president was unwilling to negotiate new trade agreements.

“President Biden has stated that he will not sign new trade agreements until the United States makes significant investments in American workers and our infrastructure,” Yellen said.

Downing Street said on Saturday that Biden and Johnson had discussed “the benefits of a possible free trade agreement between our two countries”, and the British prime minister “reiterated his intention to resolve the current trade disputes as soon as possible”.

The White House said in a statement that the two leaders discussed combating climate change, containing COVID-19 and ensuring global health security, as well as common foreign policy priorities for China, Iran and Russia. However, he noted that the statement did not refer to trade talks.

Johnson’s phone call was at least Biden’s third with a foreign leader on Friday. On Friday afternoon, the president spoke with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador.