Joe Biden and Rishi Sunak unveil ‘Atlantic Declaration’ to strengthen economic ties

US President Joe Biden and UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on Thursday agreed on an “Atlantic Declaration” to strengthen economic ties between the two countries by turning their backs on globalization and cutting China out of key supply chains. There is another sign of trying to do.

The announcement aims to increase US-UK trade in areas such as defence, nuclear materials and vital minerals used in electric car batteries as part of Biden’s effort to build “economic security” between the Western allies.

Biden, speaking after talks between the two at the White House, backed Sunak’s effort to provide leadership in the debate on regulating artificial intelligence, including hosting the first global summit on the issue this autumn.

“We’re looking to Great Britain to help us find a way through this,” Biden said. “There’s no country we have more confidence in than we can to help negotiate through this.” He said: “We are in lockstep.”

Sunak, speaking in the Oval Office, said the world stood on the brink of the biggest technological change since the Industrial Revolution, but it also gave opponents “more tools to harm” Western democracies.

Biden, who apologized for mistakenly calling Sunak “Mr. President”, alluded to Roosevelt and Churchill’s wartime relationship. But British officials said the Atlantic Declaration was an insensitive attempt to build a forward-looking US-UK relationship based on economic security.

The agreement comes after hopes of a US-UK free trade agreement – a dream of Eurosceptic Conservatives in Britain – were dashed.

The announcement is a recognition by the craze, a free-marketeer and opponent of state subsidies, that they must work with a Biden administration that is using industrial policy and tax breaks to promote green technology.

It seeks to secure special US deals for Britain similar to those negotiated by other allies such as Japan, Australia and the European Union to build new supply chains that reduce dependence on China.

British manufacturers of electric cars using UK-made batteries – or products sourced from countries such as Japan with which the US has deals on vital minerals – would qualify for a tax credit of $3,750 per vehicle under Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act , His major law promotes green. technology.

Biden has meanwhile committed to asking Congress to approve the UK as a “domestic source” under US defense procurement laws, which British officials claimed would allow faster and more effective cooperation on new military technology. .

The announcement also targets other niche deals, including a “data bridge” to reduce red tape for smaller export companies.

The agreement includes a push for mutual recognition of qualifications for engineers – and later accountants – although this may require state-by-state approval in the US.

Sunak said people had questioned what kind of partner Britain would be after Brexit, adding: “Judge us by our actions.”

The PM said the UK remains an attractive investment destination and the UK can now move “more quickly and flexibly” to create new rules for emerging technology such as AI.

Some indecent things also happened between the two leaders. Biden said that “no country is closer to us than the United Kingdom”, while Sunak spoke of an “inevitable alliance”.

But British diplomats acknowledged some clouds still hung over the relationship, reflected by the haze from Canadian wildfires that shrouded the US capital during Sunak’s visit.

On the positive side, the US and the UK have worked closely on developing a military partnership – alongside Australia – on Ukraine and developing nuclear-powered submarines to counter China in the Pacific.

Sunak helped gain Biden’s confidence by resolving a post-Brexit dispute over Northern Ireland’s trading arrangements, although in May the US President said he had to travel to Ireland “to make sure the Brits don’t screw up”. inserted”.

“I am fortunate to enjoy a great relationship with President Biden,” Sunak told reporters.

But Biden has been critical of Brexit, and Democrats cannot understand why Sunak – who supported Britain leaving the European Union – restricted the country’s influence to its own continent.

Nor do Biden and the free-market craze eye the president’s policy of state subsidies to promote green technology. Britain’s Labor opposition, in contrast, is in full agreement with this view.

But the two facing voters in 2024 — possibly fighting concurrent election campaigns next autumn — add to the list of challenges that should bring the two leaders closer together.