A ‘very, very substantial’ deal?

As US President Donald Trump arrived at Downing Street this morning (June 4), Unite joined tens of thousands of people assembling at Trafalgar Square to protest his first official state visit.

The Trump Baby balloon made another appearance on the streets of London in what demonstrators have dubbed a ‘carnival of resistance’, while Trump held talks with business leaders and Prime Minister Theresa May as he made the case for a post-Brexit trade deal.

“I think we will have a very, very substantial trade deal. This is something you want to do and my folks want to do,” Trump said.

But such a ‘very, very substantial trade deal’ would only be possible, as Trump tweeted on Monday, “once [the] UK gets rid of the shackles of [the EU]”.

It’s a favourite argument of hard Brexiteers vying for a no-deal Brexit – they preach the idea that, free to seek its own trade deals, the UK outside the EU will be saved by America and its ‘special relationship.’

But under an aggressive and volatile Trump presidency, at what cost this ‘very, very substantial trade deal’?

NHS under threat

If there were any doubts that the NHS would be under threat in future trade deals with the US, they were laid to rest this week.

Speaking on the Andrew Marr show on Sunday (June 1), US ambassador and close Trump ally Woody Johnson said, “I think the entire economy, in a trade deal, all things that are traded would be on the table,” when asked whether the NHS would be part of trade negotiations.

When pressed further if this specifically meant including healthcare, he noted, “I would think so.”

Already, Trump has threatened to use UK trade talks to force the NHS to pay more for drugs produced in the US.

And in a joint press conference with May this afternoon, Trump, who had to be reminded what the ‘NHS’ stood for, subsequently confirmed that the health service “would absolutely” be part of any future trade deal, in what was a memorably awkward moment for May.

Unite national officer for health Colenzo Jarrett-Thorpe said that both Trump and the US ambassador’s recent admission about the NHS being included in a future US trade deal showed the Trump administration and the Tory government were not to be trusted.

“The NHS is the UK’s greatest achievement – but for Trump and his ilk, who despise the very idea of socialised healthcare, all they can see is the money to be made from the health service,” he said.

“This was made obvious at the weekend by the US ambassador’s very frank talk about their intentions with the NHS in any future US-UK trade deal, a point that was again made by Trump himself at this afternoon’s press conference. And despite their public protestations, many of the Tory leadership hopefuls have at some point or another, whether explicitly or implicitly, expressed support for further privatisation of the NHS. That’s why today we at Unite are sending a strong and clear message – you cannot trust the Tories or Trump;  hands off our NHS!”

Post-Brexit future

Trump’s aggressive dealings with other countries, even with those usually considered America’s closest allies, offer a window into the world of what awaits the UK in a future post-Brexit trade deal.

The US president stunned the world when he said he intended to slap 5 per cent tariffs and rising on all goods imported from Mexico, one of its closes trading partners, from June 10 “until the illegal immigration problem is remedied”.

Trump has already imposed tariffs on steel on a number of trading partners including the EU, and he has entered the US into a bitter trade war with China that threatens to unsettle economies around the world.

Just last week, European Commissioner for Trade Cecilia Malmström warned the EU should “brace” itself for Trump tariffs similar to those imposed on China to hit European goods in the coming months, including on cars and potentially aerospace products.

Unite assistant general secretary Steve Turner said that Trump’s use of tariffs as a punitive punishment for non-compliance with US interests, and his hostile approach to fair global trade renders many of the UK’s key manufacturing sectors at risk.

“Whatever the UK may seek to gain from a future fair trade deal with the US will be massively dwarfed in comparison to what it will risk,” he said. “The Trump administration is blatantly abusing WTO rules, and it is obvious to all now that for him, no trading relationship is sacred. His protectionist ‘America First’ approach and use of tariffs as a punitive punishment for non-compliance with US interests, is a very real threat to our economy and our most treasured industries such as cars and steel.”