Meh! Those pesky EU safety standards were a drag: Pompeo says Brexit will be ‘fantastic’ for the US

30 Jan, 2020 16:54 / Updated 7 hours ago

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British PM Boris Johnson with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo © Global Look Press / Ting Shen 

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has suggested that Brexit will be “fantastic” for America, because it means the UK can finally do away with all those inconvenient EU trade regulations and standards.

Speaking at an event in London on Thursday alongside British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab, Pompeo claimed the UK exiting the bloc on Friday would reduce barriers to trade between the two Western allies.

I think that’s fantastic. I think that’s fantastic for the United States. I think that’s fantastic for the United Kingdom.

From February 1, PM Boris Johnson’s government will officially be free to start negotiations with US President Donald Trump’s administration over a new trade deal. Pompeo insisted that the US will now be able to “reduce transaction costs” and trade in goods and services that wasn’t possible when the UK was locked into strict EU regulations.

The UK will be at “the front of the line” for a new trade deal after Brexit, Pompeo added.

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Relations between the two countries have been at risk of souring in recent months, particularly after the UK defied US warnings about granting the Chinese telecoms firm Huawei access to their 5G mobile network. 

In addition, the UK’s proposals to introduce a digital tax on global tech firms such as Google and Facebook were condemned by the Trump administration. US Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin warned during the World Economic Forum in Davos that they were prepared to retaliate against countries who introduce such a digital tax by putting “taxes on their car companies.”