US urges UK to cut EU rules after Brexit for trade

Bloomberg

The US wants Britain to cut European Union regulations after Brexit to boost the chances of striking a free-trade deal between the two countries.
If Prime Minister Theresa May ditches some EU rules on farming and food processing, “there is a much greater opportunity for trade between the UK and US,” according to Ted McKinney, undersecretary for trade at the US Department of Agriculture.
“We hope that the UK will look for its own food standards, environmental safety protocols,” McKinney said in an interview on the fringes of a farming conference in Oxford. “We find the EU a very difficult place to do business and so we hope that as part of Brexit, the reset button can at least be considered.”
May wants a trade deal with the US and has discussed the matter with President Donald Trump. Working groups have begun to map out the shape of the agreement, which both sides say they would like to conclude quickly after Brexit. Britain is prevented from conducting formal trade talks with any country until it leaves the European Union in March 2019.
Despite these plans, trade relations soured because of a row between the two countries last year over food standards that focused on the issue of US chlorine-treated poultry. McKinney said the US is “sick and tired” of hearing from Britain that American chicken isn’t safe to eat.
Checking Google
“We would like all of British society to understand that is not a practice that’s in use very much,” McKinney said.
“The quality of our poultry, we’d put up against UK poultry any day of the week and twice on Sunday.”
American products are every bit as good as British food and Michael Gove, the British environment secretary, has privately assured US officials that he would try to draw a line under the chicken dispute because it was not fair to American poultry producers, McKinney said. He added that he’ll be checking Google to make sure Gove keeps his word.
Asked what Gove had promised, McKinney said: “That he would not conflate chlorinated chicken” with food safety standards, “and that that is passe, we don’t do that at all any more and for anybody to be talking about that is categorically unfair.” He added: “So we’re going to hold him at his word just as we’d have him hold us to our word.”
Speaking to reporters at the same conference, Gove said he couldn’t “preempt” what would result from any trade deal with the US. He promised there
would be no reduction in animal welfare standards and other quality safeguards.

UK car sales drop most since recession on Brexit, diesel
Bloomberg

UK car sales suffered their biggest annual slide since the global recession, stunted by Brexit’s impact on buyer confidence and lingering skepticism over the emissions performance of diesel models.
Registrations fell 5.7 percent to 2.54 million vehicles, the steepest drop since 2009, according to the Society for Motor Manufacturers and Traders. Demand for diesel autos slumped 17 percent, with a customer swing back to gasoline models leading to the first annual increase in carbon emissions since records began in 1997.
The decline from record sales in the previous two years comes as uncertainty about terms for the UK’s exit from the European Union weighs on consumer sentiment and the drop in the value of the pound crimps Britons’ spending power.
The registration slide is set to continue in 2018, with the SMMT forecasting a contraction of 5 percent to 7 percent.
“The market is still close to historic highs,” SMMT Chief Executive Officer Mike Hawes said at a briefing in London.
“Nevertheless we are seeing a decline, which is a concern.” New registrations in December fell 14 percent, the ninth consecutive monthly drop, the trade body said.