Transatlantic Greater Birmingham
Transatlantic Chamber of Commerce
The Greater Birmingham Transatlantic Chamber of Commerce is committed to promoting trade and investment between the US and the UK
Contact: Lauren Hunt T: 0845 603 6650
Transatlantic Chamber Patrons
Food row could leave a bad taste By Dan Harrison
A row over food and farming standards could derail a UK-US Free Trade Agreement (FTA), transatlantic business leaders have warned. The United States government’s negotiating
objectives for a future trade deal with the UK included ‘comprehensive access’ for agri goods and a demand to pull down ‘unwarranted barriers’, such as European Union rules which regulate the UK food and farming industry. However, the farming industry expressed
concerns over the potential lowering of food and farming standards after Brexit. As a result, US ambassador to the UK, Robert
‘Woody’ Johnson, launched a staunch defence of American food production – and urged the UK to ditch the EU’s directives, which he described as a ‘Museum of Agriculture’. BritishAmerican Business, of which the
Greater Birmingham Transatlantic Chamber of Commerce is part, says the two countries must not let this ‘modest’ issue put their relationship at risk. Chief executive Duncan Edwards said: “The UK as part of the EU (for now), and the US have
SMEs to discuss
trade issues on visit The United States International Trade Commission (USITC) is visiting Birmingham to find out about barriers faced by American SMEs who trade with the UK. The visit is part of a UK tour in which the
USITC will speak to SMEs from the United States who have operations in the UK. The event, which takes place at HSBC’s
offices in Birmingham on Thursday 25 April, will give firms with less than 500 employees the chance to discuss the barriers they face when exporting goods and services to the UK market. SMEs in Greater Birmingham who are American-owned are being encouraged to attend. Greater Birmingham Transatlantic Chamber of Commerce manager Lauren Hunt said: “This is a golden opportunity to feed into a US Government policy initiative that will help shape the future of UK-US trade and investment relations, making it easier for SMEs to trade and invest across the Atlantic.” The event runs from 9am to 12pm and
attendance is free. For more information please contact Theo
Bachrach at BritishAmerican Business on
tbachrach@babinc.org
50 CHAMBERLINK April 2019
US is a regulated market and would not allow food to be sold in its home market which was unsafe to eat. “The US view is that it uses more advanced agricultural technology and it’s time the UK (and the EU) caught up. “We find the position of the US
understandable. The EU regulations for food safety serve a dual purpose – to maintain a high standard of quality for food, but also to protect the farmers within that market by blocking, or significantly reducing foreign imports. “However, it is also easy to understand the
British governmental reluctance to agree to this US objective. “Firstly the EU is not going to change its
Duncan Edwards
different regulations for the growing and preparation of food for consumption which means that certain foods from the USA are not allowed to be sold in the UK. “Clearly, the problem is not one of food safety as some of the comment in the UK suggests. The
regulations, so British farmers will need to stay in line if they want to export to the EU. “Second, some form of protection for farmers
is understandable and commonplace and, thirdly, the sheer vehemence of the opposition makes acceptance almost politically impossible. “BAB has supported the idea of an FTA
between the UK and the US but would hate to see it fail because of an issue which is of modest materiality to the overall economic relationship.”
Transatlantic talks: Ambassador Johnson with Lauren Hunt
Investing in UK/US relationship
The Greater Birmingham Transatlantic Chamber of Commerce attended the launch of the SelectUSA Investment Summit – the biggest event dedicated to promoting foreign direct investment (FDI) into the United States. US ambassador to the UK, Robert ‘Woody’ Johnson, welcomed guests including Transatlantic Chamber manager Lauren Hunt, to the US Embassy in London. The Transatlantic Chamber’s delegation included
key partners such as accounting firm RSM. Ms Hunt said: “Our presence at the SelectUSA
Investment Summit launch further cemented the Transatlantic Chamber’s existing relationship with the US Embassy.
“We will continue to work with the embassy in
the future, particularly as we prepare to host the Transatlantic Conference in Birmingham in June. “Ambassador Johnson said that the USA is
very much open for business and that trade between the US and the UK is up by 15 per cent.” The SelectUSA Investment Summit brings
together companies from all over the world in a bid to attract business investment in the United States. Featuring senior government officials,
business executives and thought leaders, each summit focuses on a topical theme relating to the US investment environment and industry trends.
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