World
“Special” is an overused adjective. When describing the enduring friendship between the United States and the United Kingdom, however, the modifier truly carries weight. Policymakers on both sides of the Atlantic would do well to ensure our special relationship doesn’t end up as another useless platitude.
The roots of our relationship run deep. The fingerprints of the great British Enlightenment thinkers and the English common-law tradition are evident throughout our founding documents. During her 70-year reign, Queen Elizabeth II met with 13 U.S. presidents, dating back to Truman. President Roosevelt stood shoulder-to-shoulder with Winston Churchill, united in protecting the freedoms central to our Western way of life. Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher together articulated the case against communism for the world to hear.
Our special relationship and its achievements are only possible because both nations actively choose to invest in and grow the diplomatic and economic ties that bind us. Without “blood, toil, tears, and sweat,” we risk losing one of our most significant comparative advantages in protecting our shared interests.
When the people of the U.K. voted to leave the European Union, the prime opportunity arose to reinvigorate bilateral trade with the newly independent nation. To the credit of the previous administration, they tried. In late 2018, President Trump directed U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer to notify Congress of the administration’s intent to negotiate a trade agreement with the U.K. upon its withdrawal from the European Union. Delays in the U.K.’s formal exit from the EU and an unfriendly political climate in Washington once again put economic diplomacy with our closest ally “at the back of the queue.” In 2022, hope emerged in Congress when the Senate unanimously agreed to a resolution calling on the president to finalize negotiations on a trade agreement with the U.K. Unfortunately, the executive branch’s posture remained unchanged.
Economic diplomacy is a touchy subject on both sides of the Atlantic, but while we bicker with our friends, our enemies capitalize on our division.
Whether protectionist or free trade, both sides can agree that “friendshoring” is a winning strategy for both nations. The most recent data show that the U.K. is our 5th largest trading partner for goods exports, with a positive trade balance. For our friends across the pond, the U.S. is the U.K.’s top trading partner. The top U.S. exports, which include oil, natural gas, metals and aerospace products, are essential to the U.K.’s security.