As President Donald Trump Re-changing America’s foreign policy on hardnose trade and the nation’s self-interest, the new report warns that the UK must rethink its strategy to maintain its “special relationship” or there is a risk of being sidelined in Washington.
Darren Spink, a fellow at the Henry Jackson Association, warns that there is no “normal business” under Trump and that “special relationships” between the United States and the UK are not taken for granted. To remain an important ally, Spinck argues in a new report that the UK must embrace a “trade” approach to Trump’s foreign policy.
“Choosing not to retaliate” against Trump-era steel and aluminum tariffs could indicate “strategic perseverance that could encourage bilateral negotiations,” the report said. An overview of the steps Prime Minister Kiel In partnership with the Trump administration, we can pursue US-UK’s free trade agreements, including deeper security cooperation and a more stringent stance on China.
Trump recently imposed a 10% onboard tariff on foreign countries and suspended the strict taxation he previously proposed in all countries except China.
Chinese officials claiming closed room say PRC plays a role in US cyberattacks: Report
British Prime Minister Kiel Starmer will lead the Labour Party to the left. (Curl coat/pool via Reuters/File photo)
The report suggests that another path could involve the UK seeking to join the US Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), a North American trade bloc.
The report also urges the UK Labour leadership to “reduce commercial dependence on the PRC, rather than deepening it,” warning that close economic ties with Beijing could strain US-UK relations under Trump.
Spink contrasted with the Trump administration’s focus on “bilateralism, economic nationalism, and Indo-Pacific security” with a sensible government preference for “multilateral diplomacy, progressive trade policy, and European security commitments.”
“This policy gap threatens transatlantic cohesion and undermines their collective ability to act against our common enemy, particularly China,” he warned.
Diverge China policyNATO’s commitment and Indo-Pacific strategy could erode the five-eye intelligence sharing key to UK national security.
Spinck has called on the UK government to sign a contract with the US to address White House digital privacy concerns. In particular, after the UK ordered Apple to grant access to encrypted cloud data, it called for an initiation of a mineral mining partnership to strengthen its critical supply chain.
While previous conservative British governments saw China as a “state-based threat,” current liberal leadership “sought to overturn the course of the previous three Conservative governments and strengthen economic ties with Beijing,” according to Spink.
He said the UK recently reestablished a bilateral framework for industrial, trade and energy policy with China, where Beijing has advanced access to capital markets in the western region.
“While UK development finance institutions are less likely to support international infrastructure development or mining projects in other regions, we must question why London is trying to expand its economic ties with countries that have been widely criticized in the human rights record.”
The growing relations between the UK and China are a source of concern for the US, according to the report. (Stefan Rousseau/Pool via Reuters)
“As the Trump administration is trying to accelerate the US decup from the targeted CCP economic and technology sector, the US feels that years of careful relationship following the 2020 violation of China-UK joint declaration can ease the apparent reconciliation with Beijing, which could unnecessarily complicate the “special relationship.”
He said that serious issues that “need transatlantic cooperation” such as the peace agreement between Russia and Ukraine are “at risk” if the US and the UK are not in line with China’s policies.
Also, according to Spinck, the UK must ensure disagreements regarding US domestic policies, due to the urgent need for security cooperation.
“As the labor government works with President Trump’s administration, we need to realize a wide range of policy opinions, including immigration, climate policy, digital privacy, and welfare benefits,” he wrote.
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He said that “fractures” such as the UK government’s demand for backdoor access to Apple’s encrypted cloud storage “starting to define the overall relationship between the two allies, affecting the possibility of foreign policy alignment.”
“To overcome these cultural differences, there is a need to move towards a more transactional model of foreign policy cooperation. The UK needs to play an active role in reestablishing this agenda and push domestic ideological issues to margins in favor of robust and mutually beneficial measures.”
The UK was also able to inform goodwill by taking a more strict diplomatic stance against Iran. Spinck urged London to help shut down the “trans-Atlantic disparity” over Iran’s policy. He said it “disturbed attempts to build a consistent approach to stop Iran’s nuclear advancement.”
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The US withdrew from Iran’s nuclear deal in 2015 and imposed sweeping sanctions, but Britain remained a party, refusing to raise snapback sanctions, even amid reports that Iran had violated the agreement and had enriched uranium to a level close to arms.
Spink also urged Britain to join the US in designating Iran’s elite Islamic Revolutionary Guard as a terrorist organization. Such a move claimed that “it would be seen as a victory for years of Trump’s policy on Iran – it would cost the UK nothing and generate a lot of goodwill in Washington, DC.”
