2 months ago, UK struck a trade deal in the US – Why did Sir Keir keep it quiet?

Facts4EU reveals a little trade victory… but of course it wasn’t with Sir Keir’s beloved EU

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With all talk of President Trump’s retaliatory tariffs on large parts of the world, and of the EU’s standard tariff being 100% more than the UK’s, it seems that once again the trade pacts which the UK has been signing on a State-by-State basis have been overlooked.

Two months ago the UK signed another trade pact in the US. Readers may be forgiven if they missed this event, as the government of Sir Keir Starmer did not seem to be very interested in trade at that time. Today we report on the NINTH trade pact agreed between US States at State-level, which was signed in Denver Colorado at the end of January this year (2025).

Credit: Colorado Governor's Office 2025

How not to show enthusiasm for UK trade with the US

Regrettably, Sir Keir chose not send one of his junior trade ministers to sign this deal. Instead the Foreign Office sent its Consul General based in Chicago Illinois all the way to Denver, Colorado for the ceremony. If Colorado’s Governor was in any way annoyed at the slight, he managed not to show it.

In Colorado we welcome international partnerships that propel us forward, fostering innovation and progress that creates jobs and boosts our economy. We are taking steps to boost Colorado’s partnership with the United Kingdom which already provides over 21,000 jobs to Coloradans,… pic.twitter.com/AaauKoE6uh
— Governor Jared Polis (@GovofCO) January 27, 2025

“Solidifying and strengthening our long-standing relationship with the United Kingdom helps create more pathways for investments into Colorado businesses, expands good jobs in Colorado’s key economic sectors, and establishes a strong and lasting trade partnership with our friends in the U.K."
- Governor Polis of Colorado

“This agreement marks a great step forward in our trade relationship with Colorado. We’re unlocking investment for businesses, creating new job opportunities and strengthening the bonds of friendship and cooperation between the U.K. and Colorado."
- Consul General Hyde, UK Embassy Chicago.

Brexit Facts4EU.Org Summary

Colorado versus the EU – a GDP higher than EIGHT EU countries COMBINED

Why deals like this matter

Whilst these nine deals are not fully-fledged trade agreements they can be highly effective in increasing trade in services in particular, as they typically involve mutual recognition of each other’s standards and other issues which can otherwise act as a ‘non-tariff barrier to trade’.

Given the current situation with President Trump’s imposition of high import tariffs, the media is full of doom and gloom as usual. One thing they seem to forget constantly is that tariffs only apply to goods, not services. Given the UK’s economy is comprised of just over 80% in services, this seems to us to be relevant.

It must be remembered that Brexit Britain is now the second-largest exporter of services in the World. Goods are important but with the UK having an economy highly dependent on the services sector, pacts like this one with Colorado can be very beneficial.

The other factor that is frequently overlooked is that these deals ‘put the UK and Colorado on the map’ in their respective countries. Business people in each territory start thinking about the other as a location for doing business, where perhaps this was less likely before.

And finally, growth. The US has been growing much faster than the EU. If you are a businessman, where are you more likely to want to develop your export business?

The UK’s nine trade pacts with US States

The latest pact with Colorado brings the UK’s tally to nine US States. All of these deals were started (and most of them were signed) under the Conservative government, including the latest Colorado deal.

Since Sir Keir came to power, no negotiations with any new US States have been announced.

Brexit Facts4EU.Org Summary

UK-US state level trade deals

In short, the NINE US state deals signed so far involve a GDP so large that in total they eclipse the economies of 23 EU countries combined, as shown below.

GDP of the 9 US states combined : $7.9 TRILLION
GDP of the 23 EU states combined: $7.0 TRILLION

[Sources : World Bank | U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis - data for 2023.]

All these trade deals were done under previous Conservative governments

The authoritative and non-partisan House of Commons Library researchers produced an international trade report on 27 September. On the new Labour government’s plans they stated :-

The report on trade deals, end-Sept 2024
by the independent and authoritative House of Commons Library Research Dept

“The Labour government has said that … its priorities will be negotiations with the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC: Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE), India, Israel, South Korea, Switzerland and Turkey… Negotiations with all these countries had started under the previous Conservative government.”
“The new government’s plans for FTA negotiations did not mention the US … Canada … or Mexico.”
“The government has said that trade policy goes wider than FTAs. It will publish a trade strategy which will align with its industrial strategy and promote the UK’s economic security and net zero aims.”

House of Commons Library report, end-Sept 2024

NOTE : We make important comments about the new Government's approach to doing trade deals in the 'Observations' below this report.

The UK’s largest buyer of goods and services by far – the USA - did not warrant a mention by the new Labour government of Sir Keir Starmer.

Observations

Nearly six months ago Facts4EU ran a series of reports we referred to as our ‘Brexports’ series, more officially called ‘The independent UK selling to the world’. In that series we provided a lot of research regarding the UK’s relationship with the States compared with the EU27.

It seemed an appropriate moment to revisit that series.

Please, please help us to carry on our vital work in defence of independence, sovereignty, democracy and freedom by donating today. Thank you.

[ Sources: Governor's office, Colorado | World Bank ] Politicians and journalists can contact us for details, as ever.

Brexit Facts4EU.Org, Mon 07 Apr 2025

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Reader Comments 4

1. Ashley Great Britain , Monday, April 07, 2025, 08:15:

Labour blinkered with their love of the EU, they will continue to damage the UK as always.
It was hard to get much worse than the conservatives became, labour find it easy.

2. James MacCallum , Monday, April 07, 2025, 08:21:

Trump's America is with a Brexit UK, another win for Brexit.

3. Sparky , Monday, April 07, 2025, 13:50:

The Government summary.
.
“These MOUs, which are unique to our relationship with each state, set out:
mutual goals and activities to strengthen our economic ties
frameworks to help:
address trade barriers, increase trade and investment, and enhance business networks
grow and increase jobs
These documents are not legally binding and are separate to the work the UK does with the US at a federal level.”
.
Meaningless and worthless words.
.
But why didn’t the Govt make a big announcement about the MOU. They may well have done but an earthquake in Myanmar was the main headlines at the time.

4. Gazzablack , Monday, April 07, 2025, 21:02:

Brussels has blinked.
.
The EU are reportedly offering Trump 'Zero-for-Zero' tariffs on Industrial goods with the United States.
.
As neither food or American automobiles (currently taxed at 4 times the rate of EU cars) are included in the offer, then Trump may well be unimpressed.

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