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Post-Brexit
Britain would be pushed behind Europe in the race to secure a
U.S. deal after Germany's Angela Merkel persuaded Trump that
talks on a deal would be simpler than he thought, the newspaper
said.
Britain will not be free to agree new trade deals until it has
left the EU in 2019.
A source close to the White House was quoted as saying that
there had been a "realisation" in the Trump administration that
a trade deal with the EU - allowing the tariff-free exchange of
goods and services - was more important to U.S. interests than a
post-Brexit deal with Britain.
"Ten times Trump asked her (Merkel) if he could negotiate a
trade deal with Germany," the newspaper quoted a senior German
politician as saying.
"Every time she replied, 'You can't do a trade deal with
Germany, only the EU'," the politician said. "On the eleventh
refusal, Trump finally got the message, 'Oh, we'll do a deal
with Europe then.'"
Trump, who has repeatedly criticised the EU, had welcomed
Britain's 2016 vote to leave the bloc and said he would work
hard to get a quick bilateral trade deal done.
But German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said on Friday he
was optimistic a U.S.-EU trade deal could be reached soon after
he met his U.S. counterpart in Washington.
He said he had seen a relaxation in the dispute with the U.S.
over trade and believed a "non-confrontational solution" would
be reached when financial leaders of the world's 20 top
economies meet in Hamburg in July under Germany's presidency.
Any quick deal between the U.S. and Europe could come as a blow
to British Prime Minister Theresa May who had hoped to win a
promise of deeper trade ties when she became the first foreign
leader to meet Trump in office in January.
Trade became a major issue during the Brexit campaign when the
then-president Barack Obama said Britain would go to "the back
of the queue" for a deal if it voted to leave.
The comment was denounced as meddling by those campaigning to
leave the bloc, who argued that Britain would be free to
negotiate quick trade deals with major economies around the
world once it had left the bloc.
(Reporting by Kate Holton; Editing by Louise Ireland)
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