JOE BIDEN might not act in the interests of Britain if a post-Brexit trade deal is struck between London and Washington - as throughout history, the US has proved to be a ruthless negotiator where its economic interests are involved.

Against all odds, Prime Minister Boris Johnson secured a trade agreement with the EU after nine months of fraught negotiations. 

The deal is without a doubt a huge triumph for the Prime Minister, who two years ago won a thumping majority at the general election with the promise "to get Brexit done". Many are wondering whether he will now be able to pull a similar move with the US – as the former Mayor of London had put an agreement with Washington at the heart of his plans to revive Britain after Brexit.

The election of Democratic President Joe Biden has undoubtedly complicated things for him.

As he outlined his vision for his first few days in the White House in January, the new President confirmed he would not be prioritising a deal with the UK.

Instead, Mr Biden said he will adopt a similar “America First” policy as US President Donald Trump, fighting "like hell" to invest in US firms and employees.

Alan Winters, director of the Trade Policy Observatory at the University of Sussex, told Chudonnews Britain might indeed have to brace itself for disappointment.



He said: "The chances of a trade deal with the US in the near future are really low.

"Americans want things out of the deal that are pretty unpalatable in the UK, such as chlorinated chicken and access to a pharmaceutical market at high prices.

"Basically all things that the UK Government has already said it cannot give.”
Even if a deal is ultimately struck down the line, things might not go exactly as Mr Johnson might hope, though.

Desmond Cohen, author and former Dean at the School of Social Sciences at Sussex University, has warned against an agreement with the US, as he argued that historical evidence shows that where there are one-sided relationships, with one partner much stronger than the other, the outcome is often exploitative and unbalanced.

He wrote: "Throughout history, the US has proved to be a ruthless negotiator where its economic interests are involved.

"There are lessons of history which seem only too relevant to current economic policy in the UK."

Analysing US and UK relations at a time of real crisis – the period of World War 2 and its immediate aftermath – Mr Cohen claimed there are three related issues that yield important lessons relating to any probable set of trade negotiations subsequent to Brexit.

The Lend-Lease policy was a programme under which the US supplied the UK and other Allied nations with food, oil, and materiel between 1941 and August 1945.

This included warships and warplanes, along with other weaponry.

It was signed into law on March 11, 1941, and ended in September 1945.

In general the aid was free but, according to Mr Cohen, the US was actually only prepared to provide support under rigorous conditions.

He explained: "The situation was such that John Maynard Keynes in March 1941 finally exploded, accusing US Secretary to the Treasury Henry Morgenthau of 'stripping us of our liquid assets to the greatest extent possible before the Lend Lease Bill comes into operation...

He was aiming to reduce Britain’s gold reserves to nil, treating us worse than we have ever ourselves thought it proper to treat the humblest and least responsible Balkan country'."