WASHINGTON: The United States (US) and British leaders on Thursday announced a new economic partnership that will further boost industry relations on renewable energy and defence.
On a White House tour, Rishi Sunak adopted an “Atlantic Declaration” with Biden, who has dashed London’s hopes for a wider free trade deal between the post-Brexit UK and the world’s major economy.
“We confront new challenges to global stability — from authoritarian countries such as Russia and China; non-state actors; disruptive technologies; and climate change,” according to the declaration.
UK, US Leaders Announce New Economic Partnership
The declaration raises one main concern raised by US allies with President Biden — his Inflation Reduction Act, which enormously expands Washington’s commitment to green energy, hoping for the US to take the lead over Beijing by promoting local industry.
As per the deal with Prime Minister Sunak, the two sides will launch “immediate” talks on the US treatment of critical minerals that are used in electric batteries in the UK.
The US President agreed to ask Congress to designate the UK as a local source for defense procurement to speed up the development of next-generation arms such as hypersonic missiles.
“London and Washington have always pushed the boundaries of what two sides can achieve together,” Prime Minister Sunak said in a statement. “So, it is natural that, when faced with the huge transformation in the two sides’ economies since the industrial revolution, we would look to each other to develop a stronger economic future.”
Biden and Sunak also called for joint efforts to stop adversaries from using new emerging technologies for harm, including AI and synthetic biology. The two leaders renewed a call to keep Moscow out of civilian nuclear power markets as European partners try to cut down on Russian fossil fuels after the Ukraine war. Sunak’s Conservative party had pledged a free-trade deal with the United States (US) as they pushed for their divorce from the EU, which was adopted in a June 2016 referendum.
President Biden voiced confidence that Washington would provide long-term defense support to Kyiv, despite hesitation among some legislators in Republican Party.
