US President Joe Biden and British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak at the White House on June 8, 2023 (AFP/ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS)
It’s not the free trade deal London dreamed of, but British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and US President Joe Biden announced a new economic partnership in Washington on Thursday and celebrated a newfound friendship.
“We can count on each other with absolute confidence”, said the first during a joint press conference while the second assured that America had no “closer ally” than the United Kingdom.
An “Atlantic declaration” presented Friday by the two leaders provides for enhanced cooperation in the defense industry, in civil nuclear power and in the supply of metals essential to the energy transition.
On this last point, Rishi Sunak obtained from the White House that British industrialists benefit in part from Joe Biden’s gigantic subsidy plan, the “Inflation Reduction Act”, which unashamedly promotes “made in America”.
In terms of defence, the American president has promised to open access to the American market to British industrialists in order to boost the development of hypersonic missiles in particular.
The agreement between the two countries, tailored to deal with China and Russia, also covers artificial intelligence, energy security, and the reliability of supply chains.
It bears the mark of the “new Washington consensus”, that is to say the economic doctrine of the Biden administration, for which industrial and trade policy must be dictated by considerations of security and sovereignty, breaking with the dogma of free trade.
– “Indispensable alliance” –
“China and Russia are ready to manipulate, exploit or steal our intellectual property, use technology for authoritarian purposes or deprive us of vital resources such as energy. They will not succeed,” Rishi promised. Sunak.
Joe Biden for his part criticized the major Chinese international investment program, the “New Silk Roads”, calling it a “debt and confiscation program”, which “does not go very far”.
Rishi Sunak and Joe Biden in the Oval Office, June 8, 2023 in Washington (AFP / Brendan Smialowski)
The relationship between the two countries is much more fluid today than in the days of Boris Johnson and Liz Truss, to hear the exchanges of pleasantries between the two men at the White House.
The Prime Minister even considered that it was necessary to speak of “indispensable alliance” rather than “special relationship”, the term generally used to describe the link between London and Washington.
In the absence of a free trade agreement, Rishi Sunak leaves Washington with some support from the United States for its ambitions to regulate artificial intelligence: “We are counting on (the United Kingdom) to lead the efforts” in in favor of regulation at an upcoming summit in the fall, said Joe Biden, stressing that artificial intelligence “has the potential to cause significant damage if left unchecked”.
– NATO and Ukraine –
The American president was more cautious about another London project, namely placing British Defense Minister Ben Wallace at the head of NATO.
“Perhaps” a Briton could take the helm of the Atlantic Alliance, considered the American president, as the term of the current secretary general, Jens Stoltenberg, ends in October. He felt that Ben Wallace was “very qualified” but stressed that “a consensus” would have to be found within NATO.
Joe Biden and Rishi Sunak had already seen each other several times, on the sidelines of international summits or to launch a major military collaboration with Australia, but this reception in Washington is by far their most formal interview.
Their discussion unsurprisingly also revolved around Ukraine. The United States has repeatedly touted Britain’s commitment to supporting the Russian invasion.
In this regard, the American president, pilot of Western support for Kiev, assured that he would have the “necessary funds” to support Ukraine in its war against the Russian invader “as long as it takes (it) “, despite the doubts expressed by some Republican parliamentarians.
© 2023 AFP
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