The Trump administration is trying to appeal to the United Kingdom to relax food safety regulations to increase trade after Brexit, while trade experts say the administration’s policies are disrupting the food trade in general.
As the March 29 deadline for pulling out of the European Union approaches, the British government has to think about how to enhance trade with other parts of the world. On Feb. 28, the office of the U.S. Trade Representative published “negotiating objectives” that call on the UK to “remove expeditiously unwarranted barriers that block the export of U.S. food and agricultural products.”
British food firms are warning there might be fallout from Brexit. What does that mean for the U.S.?
These include the sale of chicken that has been rinsed after slaughter with chlorinated water, a standard practice for U.S poultry processors that is banned under EU guidelines, and beef from animals injected with hormones.
Meantime, trade experts at the International Sweetener Symposium this week said Trump’s trade policies has led to retaliation in food trade and may continue to do so.
Our March cover story takes on Trump’s effect on the food industry. From trade to immigration and labor, we're talking about it all.
Darci Vetter, chief agriculture negotiator for the Obama administration, said U.S. agriculture is falling behind key competitors, especially as a result of the Trans Pacific Partnership. The TPP, which Trump pulled the U.S. out of, resulted in signatory nations greatly increasing exports of beef and other products to Japan.
Tomas Baert, an EU trade counselor based in Washington, called Trump’s decision to pull out of the TPP “a gift.”
