As the future of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) hangs in the balance, British ministers are considering the possibility of joining the pact, according to a report in the Telegraph.
Renegotiation talks among NAFTA members are set to restart this week, but President Donald Trump recently discouraged efforts for finding a mutually acceptable solution. The U.S. administration has made several demands that Mexican senators and Canada that analysts have deemed as “red lines” that would end their participation in the renegotiations, Foreign Policy reports.
The idea of Britain joining NAFTA is appealing to London, since NAFTA would open up an economic market of $16.2 trillion, the combined GDPs of the three member countries, to replace the $16.3 trillion GDP of the European Union, Foreign Policy notes.
According to the Telegraph, joining NAFTA could be a contingency plan in case Brussels refuses to meet British demands, and the United Kingdom must leave the EU without any kind of trade agreement.
Should the NAFTA deal survive, Britain may find Republican support for joining the pact, as House Speaker Paul Ryan has said he would support a trade agreement with a post-Brexit Britain, and Trump, who has previously expressed approval for the Brexit vote, has a reasonably good relations with British Prime Minister Theresa May, Foreign Policy adds.
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