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After leaving the European Union earlier this year Britain is
trying to tie up swift trade deals with major partners like the
United States to capitalize on its new freedom to strike
bilateral deals rather than EU-wide ones.
"Positive progress continues to be made in many of the areas
covered by an agreement," the British trade department said in a
statement.
"Both sides reaffirmed their commitment to negotiating a
comprehensive and ambitious agreement. In terms of the timeline
of negotiations, it was agreed that they should continue at pace
throughout the Autumn."
Nevertheless, the government said international trade minister
Liz Truss had told her U.S. counterparts that retaliatory
tariffs imposed on EU goods - which still impact British goods
like Scotch Whisky - were unacceptable and should be removed.
Total trade between the two countries was valued at 232.7
billion pounds in 2019, according to British statistics.
The next round of talks is in early September, and will see both
sides exchange their first market access offers. Britain says
that while it wants a quick deal, it is not willing to set a
target date for one because it does not want time pressure used
against it.
The most recent round of negotiations saw texts exchanged on
rules of origin - the criteria used to determine the source of a
good, and therefore which duties and regulation should apply.
There was also detailed discussion of intellectual property
rules.
(Reporting by Kate Holton and William James)
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