Leaving the EU gives us an unprecedented chance to boost trade with the US
HM Trade Commissioner for North America, Antony Phillipson writes for City AM on the strength of the UK-US trade relationship and the opportunities available for the British cyber security sector.
In my role as Her Majesty’s trade commissioner for North America, my priority is to work with our teams across the US and Canada to help businesses of all sizes and from all parts of the UK to seize export opportunities in both countries, and to attract high quality investment to the UK.
Today, I am delighted to be hosting a series of trade events on board the Royal Navy’s new flagship HMS Queen Elizabeth alongside international trade secretary, Liam Fox.
This is an incredible opportunity: not only to demonstrate the strength of the UK-US relationship, but to build meaningful bridges between companies in key sectors.
The US and UK have long been partners at sea; the Anglo-American Shipping Collaboration during the Second World War saw millions of tonnes of supplies imported into the UK on US ships, protected by Royal Navy vessels.
Our militaries do more together than any 2 countries in the world, and our mutually-supportive cooperation enables us to operate together, and in wider alliances, around the world in the interests of global security.
Our troops equip, train, fight and recuperate together. Hundreds of UK personnel are stationed in the US, across 34 of the 50 states. The visit of HMS Queen Elizabeth to America’s largest city is a symbol of that ongoing friendship and a reminder that we are committed to standing shoulder to shoulder as we face today’s global challenges.
The UK and US have a particularly close working relationship in law enforcement and intelligence cooperation. Our countries’ expertise in cyber and artificial intelligence is a major theme of the trade day.
UK companies have the capability to provide the best-in-class services across a wide range of cyber security requirements, including threat intelligence, training and vulnerability assessments.
Aboard the HMS Queen Elizabeth today the DIT team here in New York, along with their counterparts across North America and in London, have arranged a series of roundtables and forums with industry that will allow key players from both countries, such as Garrison, iProov and Tessian, to meet and discuss opportunities to increase and develop their current partnerships in order to develop export opportunities.
The roundtable will see the founding of a new sub-committee of the UK’s prestigious Board of Trade, which will meet regularly to discuss how British cyber innovation can be exported around the world.
The UK currently exports £1.8 billion of cyber technology a year, but there is the potential to increase this to £3.1 billion by 2022.
Liam Fox and I will also attend the inaugural meeting of the Atlantic Forum today, this event will see the governments of both countries, senior military figures and businesses come together to discuss the cyber and artificial intelligence sectors and how we combat current threats.
The clear objective of today’s events is increased partnership with a country we consider our most significant ally both in defence and in trade.
Our cooperation will ensure that our nations maintain the joint capability needed to keep ahead of the curve.
The UK has recently been selected to be a global repair hub for the F-35, which is the fighter jet class that has been undergoing trials with the HMS Queen Elizabeth off the US East Coast over the past 2 months. We’re also investing billions of pounds in US attack helicopters, maritime patrol aircraft, and other systems.
Today’s events are just part of developing our broader trade and investment partnership with the US, our single largest trading partner, and with whom we are pursuing an ambitious trading future which will create even more export and investment opportunities for British businesses and consumers.
Every region in the UK trades with the US: salmon from Scotland appears in fine dining restaurants in Los Angeles, life sciences products from Manchester save lives in Texas, and space technology from Surrey takes off from Houston and Florida.
Our departure from the European Union gives us an unprecedented chance to see this trade increase, and the Department for International Trade is working hard to make this happen.
We are currently making good progress with Washington in our preparations for negotiating an ambitious UK-US Free Trade Agreement (FTA) once we have left the EU. Our trade and investment working group has met 4 times so far, and another meeting is scheduled in the near future.
At home, we are in the final stages of consulting on what an FTA should cover. We have had responses from across the business community and civil society, as well as significant input from members of the public. If you haven’t contributed to this, then please do so this week before the 26 October deadline.
Our US partners are also stepping up their own preparations.
I warmly welcome last week’s announcement from the US Trade Representative informing Congress of the intention to being formal negotiations with the UK once we leave the European Union. His reference to an FTA based on innovation is also an excellent reflection of the wider partnership we need to build between the UK and US to drive jobs and growth for the future.
Since starting my new role in North America last year, I have been struck by the demand for UK goods and services, across North America.
There are fantastic opportunities for UK companies here, which my hard-working team are constantly promoting through great.gov.uk and other channels. Events like those on board HMS Queen Elizabeth will ensure that we are putting business at the heart of our agenda over the coming months and years.