The prime minister, on his way to the United Nations General Assembly, told reporters on Tuesday: “There are currently no negotiations with the US and I have no expectation that they will begin in the short to medium term. term.” Ms Truss, a former foreign and trade secretary, said her priority with international allies was to “collectively confront Russia’s aggression”. Her focus on trade deals had shifted eastward, she said, citing her desire for a trade deal with India. Her predecessor, Boris Johnson, pledged in June to secure one by the end of the year. Ms Truss also wants a deal with the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), made up of Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. The third objective is to achieve the UK’s entry into the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) which takes place in Australia, Canada and Japan and is one of the largest trade blocs in the world. “These are our commercial priorities,” he said. Question of the Northern Ireland Protocol Her comments come after the White House warned this month that any attempt to undo the Northern Ireland Protocol, which governs trade rules between the EU, Great Britain and Northern Ireland, could damage the chances of a bilateral trade deal. Karine Jean-Pierre, a White House press secretary, said there was “no official connection” between the two issues, but also said any effort to repeal the Northern Ireland Protocol “will not create an enabling environment and essentially there we are in dialogue”. President Biden made similar comments a year ago when he said in the Oval Office – with Mr Johnson, then prime minister, sitting next to him – that while the issues of a US-UK trade deal and the Northern Ireland Protocol were “ separate’, he felt ‘very strongly’ that he did not want a change to the Irish agreements resulting in a closed border. Read more: US warns trade deal at risk due to protocol change The UK and the EU are still at odds over trade deals between Great Britain and Northern Ireland, with the UK insisting that physical checks on agricultural produce and other goods be scrapped. The UK has also insisted it will act unilaterally if no solution can be found and has drawn up legislation to allow the UK to scrap part of the protocol. Click to subscribe to Sky News Daily wherever you get your podcasts The bill was tabled by Ms Truss this summer and is expected to reach the Lords in mid-October and threatens to further escalate tensions between the EU and potentially the US. Johnson and his government had backed a trade deal with the US as a big Brexit bonus, while President Trump insisted in 2017 that the UK was “at the front of the queue”. But Mr Johnson was forced to admit in 2021 that the US has “a lot of fish to fry” and that a trade deal may not be secured until after the 2024 general election. “Americans are negotiating very hard,” he said. Ms Truss now appears to have scuttled a free trade deal with Britain’s closest ally and the world’s biggest economy and wants to use her trip to the UN to focus on Ukraine and collectively confront Russian aggression.
