Nile Gardiner and Theodore Bromund
On January 27, just seven days after taking office,
President Donald Trump will meet with British Prime Minister Theresa May
in Washington. It will be the first visit to the White House by a
foreign leader since Trump’s inauguration, and the meeting sends a clear
signal that the Anglo–American alliance will be at the heart of
strategic thinking in the new Trump Administration.
Key Takeaways
May’s visit comes just seven
months after the Brexit referendum in which the British people voted by a
margin of 52 to 48 percent to leave the European Union.
Britain is America’s largest
foreign direct investor, and roughly a million U.S. jobs depend on
British companies based in America.
After the Obama
Administration’s lukewarm approach to Great Britain, the Trump
presidency is in a strong position to revitalize the Special
Relationship.
On January 27, just seven days after taking office,
President Donald Trump will meet with British Prime Minister Theresa May
in Washington. It will be the first visit to the White House by a
foreign leader since Trump’s inauguration, and the meeting sends a clear
signal that the Anglo–American alliance will be at the heart of
strategic thinking in the new Trump Administration. The Special
Relationship has been the world’s most powerful bilateral partnership
for over 70 years and is fundamentally important to both Washington and
London. It has played a vital role in the defense of the free world
since World War Two and has been instrumental in advancing economic
freedom across the globe.
May’s visit comes just seven months after the June 23, 2016, Brexit referendum in which the British people voted by a margin of 52 percent to 48 percent to leave the European Union. The Brexit vote allows Britain to chart a new course as a sovereign, free nation, able to implement free trade agreements with countries across the world as soon as the United Kingdom exits the EU in 2019.
The prospect of a free trade agreement between the United States and the U.K., the world’s largest and fifth largest economies, respectively, will be central to the discussions between President Trump and Prime Minister May. Their talks will also focus on revitalizing the NATO alliance; the growing threat posed by Russia, Iran, and a host of Islamist terrorist groups, ranging from ISIS to al-Qaeda; and the wars in Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, and Libya.
The Trump–May meeting is a valuable opportunity both to project robust U.S.–U.K. leadership on the world stage and to advance the Special Relationship. The following are five key recommendations for the White House and the Trump Administration as it prepares for the arrival of the British prime minister.
Move forward with a U.S.–U.K. free trade deal. The Trump Administration should make a U.S.–U.K. free trade deal a foreign policy priority. There is strong support on Capitol Hill for a free trade agreement between the United States and the United Kingdom, including the United Kingdom Trade Continuity Act introduced by Senators Mike Lee (R–UT) and Tom Cotton (R–AR). America has a huge economic stake in the United Kingdom. As the Congressional Research Service notes, there are $5 trillion of U.S. corporate assets in the U.K., representing 22 percent of total U.S. corporate overseas assets. 1
May’s visit comes just seven months after the June 23, 2016, Brexit referendum in which the British people voted by a margin of 52 percent to 48 percent to leave the European Union. The Brexit vote allows Britain to chart a new course as a sovereign, free nation, able to implement free trade agreements with countries across the world as soon as the United Kingdom exits the EU in 2019.
The prospect of a free trade agreement between the United States and the U.K., the world’s largest and fifth largest economies, respectively, will be central to the discussions between President Trump and Prime Minister May. Their talks will also focus on revitalizing the NATO alliance; the growing threat posed by Russia, Iran, and a host of Islamist terrorist groups, ranging from ISIS to al-Qaeda; and the wars in Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, and Libya.
The Trump–May meeting is a valuable opportunity both to project robust U.S.–U.K. leadership on the world stage and to advance the Special Relationship. The following are five key recommendations for the White House and the Trump Administration as it prepares for the arrival of the British prime minister.
Move forward with a U.S.–U.K. free trade deal. The Trump Administration should make a U.S.–U.K. free trade deal a foreign policy priority. There is strong support on Capitol Hill for a free trade agreement between the United States and the United Kingdom, including the United Kingdom Trade Continuity Act introduced by Senators Mike Lee (R–UT) and Tom Cotton (R–AR). America has a huge economic stake in the United Kingdom. As the Congressional Research Service notes, there are $5 trillion of U.S. corporate assets in the U.K., representing 22 percent of total U.S. corporate overseas assets. 1
See Derek E. Mix, “The United Kingdom: Background and Relations with the United States,” Congressional Research Service Report for Members and Committees of Congress, April 29, 2015, https://fas.org/sgp/crs/row/RL33105.pdf">https://fas.org/sgp/crs/row/RL33105.pdf (accessed January 24, 2017).
See
Rudy Telles, Jr., “Foreign Direct Investment in the United States:
Update to 2013 Report,” U.S. Department of Commerce, Economics and
Statistics Administration, Office of the Chief Economist, ESA Issue Brief No. 02-16, June 20, 2016, http://www.esa.doc.gov/sites/default/files/foreign-direct-investment-in-the-united-states-update-2016.pdf">http://www.esa.doc.gov/sites/default/files/foreign-direct-investment-in-the-united-states-update-2016.pdf (accessed
January 24, 2017).
and roughly a million U.S. jobs depend on British companies based in America. President Trump should instruct the U.S. Trade Representative and the White House National Trade Council to fast-track the pursuit of a U.S.–U.K. trade pact by putting forward clear negotiating objectives, pursuant to congressional guidance, that will advance the Special Relationship between the two countries. The free trade deal should be implemented within 90 days of Britain’s leaving the EU.
-
Back Brexit and national sovereignty in Europe. Britain’s
decision to leave the European Union should be viewed as a hugely
positive development by the new Administration and offers tremendous
opportunities for Britain and the United States to strengthen their
partnership. President Trump has called the Brexit result “a great
thing,” declaring on British soil the day after the June referendum that
“basically they took back their country.”3
See Ashley Parker, “Donald Trump, in Scotland, Calls ‘Brexit’ Result ‘a Great Thing,’” The New York Times, June 24, 2016, https://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/25/us/politics/donald-trump-scotland.html?_r=2">https://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/25/us/politics/donald-trump-scotland.html?_r=2 (accessed January 24, 2017).
A supranational European Union that stifles sovereignty and the freedom of European allies to act independently is not in America’s national interest, and the White House should not back the mantra of “ever closer union” across the Atlantic. It is in America’s interest to cultivate ties with key national capitals rather than lending its support to a crumbling European Project. A strong and enduring transatlantic alliance rests upon the bedrock principles of self-determination, economic freedom, and mutual defense.
The new U.S. Administration should rethink American support for the EU and conduct a National Security Council–led study on how best to advance U.S. interests in Europe.
The Trump Administration should oppose any efforts by the European Union to create a competing EU defense identity or EU Army and should ensure that NATO retains its primacy over and the right of first refusal for all Europe-related defense matters.4
See Luke Coffey and Nile Gardiner, “The United States Should Not Back a European Union Army,” Heritage Foundation Issue Brief No. 4616, October 20, 2016, http://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2016/10/the-united-states-should-not-back-a-european-union-army">http://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2016/10/the-united-states-should-not-back-a-european-union-army.
Section 811 of the fiscal year (FY) 2018 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), among other provisions, mandates a Defense Department study of ways to improve the integration of the U.S. defense industrial base, including Britain and Australia.
The Trump Administration should commit to (1) energetically supporting and conducting the study mandated by the FY 2018 NDAA, (2) reducing barriers to the export of U.S. defense goods and services, and (3) to developing collaborative programs with Britain and Australia.
On the other hand, the U.S. and Britain, as global leaders, do not want to—and cannot—close themselves off from the outside world. They should exercise the inherent sovereign right to effective border controls but also should work to make sure that those border controls do not impede lawful commerce.
The Trump Administration should welcome Britain’s renewed ability to exercise border controls and, while working with it to improve border security, should seek to develop approaches, such as the rumored “passporting deal,” that make it easier for law-abiding businesses and individuals in each nation to work and invest in the other.5
Christopher
Hope and Ben Riley-Smith, “Donald Trump to Meet Theresa May Before Any
Other Foreign Leader Since His Inauguration as New Deal Planned for
Britain,” The Telegraph, January 22, 2017, http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/01/21/donald-trump-plans-new-deal-britain-theresa-may-becomes-first/">http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/01/21/donald-trump-plans-new-deal-britain-theresa-may-becomes-first/ (accessed
January 24, 2017).
The Administration must also revitalize the Five Eyes initiative of cooperation among the senior border and immigration officials of Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
Revitalizing the Special Relationship
President Trump’s decision to bring back Sir Jacob Epstein’s bust of Sir Winston Churchill on the day he entered the Oval Office speaks volumes about the willingness of the new U.S. Administration to work closely with its British allies. After eight years of the Obama Administration’s lukewarm approach to Great Britain, the Trump presidency is in a strong position to revitalize the Special Relationship. It is a partnership that rests upon deep-seated cooperation in t defense, trade, intelligence, and a host of other areas stretching from educational exchange to the arts.As Margaret Thatcher once remarked, “the special relationship does exist, it does count and it must continue, because the United States needs friends in the lonely task of world leadership.”6
Margaret Thatcher, “Speech to Foreign Relations Council of Chicago,” June 17, 1991, http://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/108275">http://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/108275 (accessed January 24, 2017).
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