{"id":23099,"date":"2021-09-17T10:31:00","date_gmt":"2021-09-17T14:31:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/irishexaminerusa.com\/wp\/?p=23099"},"modified":"2021-09-18T10:35:05","modified_gmt":"2021-09-18T14:35:05","slug":"pelosi-future-uk-us-trade-deal-depends-on-british-adherence-to-ni-protocol","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/irishexaminerusa.com\/wp\/?p=23099","title":{"rendered":"Pelosi: Future UK-US Trade Deal Depends On British Adherence To NI Protocol"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Nancy Pelosi outside No 10 Downing Street (PA Wire\/PA Images)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Nancy Pelosi has said a breakdown in the talks over the Northern Ireland Protocol would be \u201cproblematic\u201d for a post-Brexit UK-US trade deal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Speaker of the US House of Representatives has been critical of British prime minister Boris Johnson\u2019s approach to Northern Ireland following Britain\u2019s exit from the European Union.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The pair discussed the issue in Downing Street on Thursday and Ms Pelosi expanded on her views about the talks currently under way between the UK and Brussels to resolve issues surrounding the implementation of the protocol.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The senior Democrat said she felt it would be \u201cvery unlikely\u201d for London and Washington to agree the fresh trade terms coveted by the UK government \u201cif there is destruction of the Good Friday accords\u201d as a result of the negotiations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is not the first time there has been intervention from senior Washington figures about Brexit\u2019s impact on Ireland, with US President Joe Biden \u2014 who has Irish ancestry \u2014 and other Democrats, such as Ms Pelosi, taking a keen interest in the situation in the North.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At a time when the UK was considering overriding parts of the agreement in 2020, Ms Pelosi made similar comments, warning that Congress would never pass a free trade agreement with the UK if the government\u2019s actions imperiled the peace process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The UK wants to rewrite the protocol, which avoids a hard border with Ireland by effectively keeping the North in the European Union\u2019s single market for goods.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The post-Brexit rules have led to trade barriers for goods crossing the Irish Sea from Great Britain, even with grace periods in place to help goods such as chilled meats continue to be exchanged.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ms Pelosi told a Chatham House event in London she was \u201cglad that more time\u201d had been afforded for talks between the UK and the EU on how to operate the protocol.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But she said there \u201chas to be an agreement\u201d that respects the terms of the peace agreement in the North or transatlantic relations and the prospect of a trade concord could suffer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf it takes a little more time, then so be it,\u201d the senior US politician said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis is not said as any threat, it is a prediction: if there is destruction of the Good Friday accords, it would be very unlikely to have a UK-US bilateral.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe have to have a path that includes it. It would be problematic in terms of a bilateral.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She revealed that Mr Johnson had given her \u201creading material\u201d about the issues Britain faces around the protocol when they met at No 10 this week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And in the clearest indication yet that the British prime minister will travel to Washington as part of his trip next week to the US for the United Nations general assembly, Ms Pelosi said she \u201chopes to host\u201d the Conservative Party leader at the House of Representatives, where she will raise any matters that arise from her reading.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reports on both sides of the Atlantic have suggested Mr Biden is set to welcome his UK ally to the White House as the pair look to work closely together on climate change and their approach to China.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It comes after the US, UK and Australia announced a new defense pact, known as Aukus, which is being seen as an attempt to keep China\u2019s military expansion in the Indo-Pacific in check.<\/p>\n

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