Rachel Reeves: EU trade relationship ‘more important' than US
Rachel Reeves has said that Britain's trading relationship with the European Union is more important than the one with the US.
The chancellor is due to meet Scott Bessent, the US Treasury secretary, on Friday in the hope of making a breakthrough in getting a new economic deal to lift the worst of President Trump's tariffs.
However, she said that the UK's relationship with the EU was 'arguably even more important'. The UK is seeking a new deal with the EU to bring it into the closest alignment with Brussels after Brexit.
Sir Keir Starmer is expected to unveil the EU deal at a conference in London on May 19. It will include a new UK-EU defence pact giving British defence companies access to
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