BREAKING NEWS Biden shelves plans for a trade pact with Britain before the 2024 elections after Senate disagreements over how it benefits America

• A draft outline of the pact and its 11 proposed chapters indicated negotiations would start by the end of 2023

President Joe Biden has quietly shelved plans for a trade pact with Britain ahead of the 2024 election after Senate agreements on how it affects America.

A draft outline of the pact and its 11 proposed chapters, prepared earlier this year by the United States Trade Representative’s (USTR) office, indicated negotiations would start by the end of 2023.

However, after coming up against several headwinds, the deal is not expected to be put into action, two people briefed by the British and U.S. governments respectively told POLITICO, with both speaking under condition of anonymity.

‘I don’t think we’re going to see that re-emerge,’ said one those briefed on the proposed negotiations.

The proposal’s timeline for talks set out that negotiations finish ahead of US and UK elections next year.

Joe Biden. A draft outline of the pact and its 11 proposed chapters, prepared earlier this year by the United States Trade Representative’s (USTR) office, indicated negotiations would start by the end of 2023 (File Photo)

The deal was closer in its contents to the U.S.-led Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (IPEF) – which focuses on regulation and non-tariff barriers – than a full trade agreement.

But in November IPEF talks unravelled after senior Democrats spoke out against the Biden administration’s negotiation of trade provisions that did not hold enforceable labor standards.

The UK government has long wanted a trade agreement with the U.S. as a solid post-Brexit prize, the outlet reports. 

The draft was seen as a road map to eventually securing a comprehensive deal. 

Business and Trade Secretary Kemi Badenoch pitched the deal in April during Biden’s trip to Belfast, Bloomberg reported, to reenergize discussions that first began under the Trump administration. 

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