LONDON - Former U.S. presidential candidate Hillary Clinton cautioned Britain on Sunday over its push to secure a trade deal with U.S. President Donald Trump after it leaves the European Union.
Clinton, the Democratic Party candidate who lost out to Trump in last November’s election, also said Britain would face serious disruption if it left the EU without a negotiated deal with Brussels. The British government has talked up the prospect of bilateral trade deals with the United States and others as one of the major benefits of leaving the EU following last year’s surprise referendum vote to leave. Asked about the prospects of a British-U.S. deal, Clinton told the BBC: “You’re making a trade deal with somebody who says he doesn’t believe in trade, so I’m not quite sure how that’s going to play out over the next few years.”
British Prime Minister Theresa May visited Trump in January to talk trade. The countries share $200 billion of trade each year. But May has since intervened in a dispute between U.S. aerospace firm Boeing and Canadian planemaker Bombardier, lobbying in the interests of Bombardier to try to protect jobs at its factory in Northern Ireland. (Reuters)