U.K. agrees closer Texas trade ties as U.S. talks stall

Britain signed a trade agreement with Texas on Wednesday after it failed to secure a post-Brexit deal with the wider United States.

U.K. Trade Secretary Kemi Badenoch and Texas Governor Greg Abbott signed the agreement in London.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's government has struggled to deliver on a promise to sign big trade deals in the wake of Brexit, or Britain's departure from the European Union.

Rather than a formal trade deal, the Texas signing is akin to a memorandum of understanding designed to improve co-operation between U.K. businesses and peers in the US state.

"Today's signature with Texas marks the U.K.'s eighth US state-level pact, meaning U.K. firms now have access to states with a combined GDP of £5.3 trillion ($6.8 trillion)," Badenoch said ahead of the signing.

Abbott said the Statement of Mutual Co-operation would "further promote economic growth on both sides of the Atlantic".

"What we signed our names to today is a pathway to increased prosperity," he added.

Other U.S. states to have signed such recent agreements with the U.K. include Florida and Indiana.

London has been seeking to sign new trade pacts around the world to show it was right to sever ties with the EU, its nearest neighbors and largest trading partner.

As well as failing to secure a U.S.-wide deal, negotiations have paused on talks with Canada.

Brexiteers have repeatedly talked up the benefits of leaving the E.U. since Britons voted narrowly in favor of quitting the bloc in 2016.

They promised "sunlit uplands" of economic prosperity, while Boris Johnson, the former prime minister, said Brexit would free the U.K. to project itself on the world stage.

Opponents, though, claim that alongside restrictions to freedom of movement and increased red tape, departure has helped fuel rampant inflation and worsen a cost-of-living crisis.

Some trade deals have been signed, including with faster-growing economies such as Australia, New Zealand and Singapore.

The U.K. also joined 11 Asia-Pacific countries who are members of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP).

© 2024 AFP