UK should rebuild EU trade relations: Bank of England chief

LONDON: Britain should rebuild its trading relationship with the EU, having struck a trade agreement with the US, Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey said on Friday.

Bailey told the BBC that it “would be beneficial” for Britain to have “a more open economy to trade with the EU”.US President Donald Trump on Thursday unveiled a “breakthrough” trade agreement with Britain, the first deal with any country since he launched his global tariffs blitz.

The EU remains Britain’s trading partner despite Brexit, which saw Britain depart the EU in 2020.However, “there has been a fall-off in goods trade with the EU over recent years”, Bailey told the broadcaster regarding Brexit’s impact on Britain.

Bailey added in the interview that he hoped Britain could “start to rebuild that relationship” with its neighbour.His comments come ahead of a EU-UK summit on May 19 due to reset ties with the 27-nation bloc.

The US deal reduces tariffs on British cars and lifts them on steel and aluminium, while in return Britain will open up markets to US beef and other farm products.British Prime Minister Keir Starmer hailed it as a “historic day”, although the agreement is thin on details and both sides said there would be more negotiations.Britain this week also struck a free-trade agreement with India, its biggest such deal since it voted to leave the European Union in 2016.