WASHINGTON: British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and US President Joe Biden have agreed a new partnership to bolster economic security.
The Atlantic Declaration, announced as the British premier and US president met in the White House, includes commitments on easing trade barriers, closer defence industry ties and a data protection deal.
The agreement comes after hopes of a full-blown free trade deal were abandoned, with UK officials insisting the new, targeted approach was a better response to the economic challenges posed by Beijing and Russia’s attack of Ukraine. Sunak said: “The UK and US have always pushed the boundaries of what two countries can achieve together.
“Over generations we have fought alongside one another, shared intelligence we don’t share with anyone else, and built the strongest investment relationship in world history.
“So it’s natural that, when faced with the greatest transformation in our economies since the industrial revolution, we would look to each other to build a stronger economic future together.
“The Atlantic Declaration sets a new standard for economic co-operation, propelling our economies into the future so we can protect our people, create jobs and grow our economies together.”
The deal mitigates some of the issues cause by Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), with proposals for a critical minerals agreement to remove barriers which affected trade in electric vehicle batteries.
An agreement would give buyers of vehicles made using critical minerals processed, recycled or mined by UK companies access to tax credits in line with the IRA.
The two nations will also collaborate on key industries — artificial intelligence, 5G and 6G telecoms, quantum computing, semi conductors and engineering biology.
“Together we are providing economic and humanitarian aid and security systems to Ukraine in their fight against a brutal attack from Russia,” Mr Biden said.
In reference to Winston Churchill’s wartime visit to the White House, Sunak said: “It’s daunting to think of the conversations that our predecessors had in this room when they had to speak of wars that they fought together, peace won together, incredible change in the lives of our citizens.
Before their meeting, Sunak announced the UK will host the first global summit on AI safety.
The summit, which will be held in the autumn, will consider the need for international co-ordinated action to mitigate the risks of the emerging technology.
— dpa
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