Greater economic ties have been promised by US President Joe Biden and UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak (Photo: AP)
Metropolis Desk-
To reinforce their long-standing security relationship, US President Joe Biden and British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak have announced that their nations will collaborate on cutting-edge technologies, sustainable energy, and essential minerals.
In conjunction with Sunak’s official visit to the White House, Biden and Sunak signed the “Atlantic Declaration,” which Sunak referred to as a groundbreaking business alliance on artificial intelligence and other matters of commerce and trade.
A long-awaited free trade agreement has not materialized, despite the US and UK’s longstanding military and security alliances getting stronger in the face of China’s increased assertiveness in Asia and Russia’s war in Ukraine.
“Our economic partnership is an enormous strength – a source of strength that anchors everything we do together,” Biden told reporters.
Sunak announced the new contract by saying, “I know some people have worried what type of partner Britain would be if it leaves the EU.
“Judge us by the way we act, I would say.
“We’re as dedicated to our principles as ever, as dependable an ally as ever, and as a desirable location for investments as ever.”
On January 31, 2020, the United Kingdom left the EU.
Despite the dim chances for a free trade agreement following Brexit, Sunak, who entered office in October, has worked to enhance commercial connections between the US and the UK.
Biden will push Congress to amend the Defense Production Act so that British suppliers receive some of the same preferential treatment as domestic providers.
Additionally, Sunak and Biden began discussions about a crucial minerals agreement that might allow British-produced minerals used in electric vehicle production to qualify for tax credits for clean vehicles under Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act.
From London to Seoul, the US’s friends have been angered by the law’s made-in-America inclinations, and Biden is holding separate discussions with EU leaders about the issue.
The meeting, their fourth in as many months, was called as Western authorities looked to determine whether Russia was to blame for the collapse of the Nova Kakhovka dam, which has forced thousands of people to flee and done significant economic and environmental harm.
Russia and Ukraine have both taken responsibility for destroying the dam.
Sunak promised assistance for Ukraine for “years to come” and said he and Biden planned to send a clear message to Russian leader Vladimir Putin that it was pointless for him to wait for coalition support for Ukraine to wane and to persuade Putin to withdraw his forces.
Throughout the trip, Sunak, who frequently referred to the US president as “Joe,” joked that he would not burden Biden in the same way that Winston Churchill, the British prime minister at the time of World War II, allegedly did by rumored wandering around the White House as a visitor of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, did.
When the Group of Seven summit took place in Hiroshima, Japan, the two leaders last spoke.
At a trilateral gathering honoring the defense alliance between the US, Australia, and Britain, they also got together in Belfast in April and San Diego in March.
Any future NATO leader, according to Biden, must have the support of all countries.
On Wednesday, the British prime minister paid a visit to the US Capitol and spoke with Democratic and Republican congressional leaders.
Sunak told reporters that the topic of artificial intelligence safety came up during the meeting on Thursday and that the United Kingdom will organize the first summit on the subject this fall to talk about how the dangers of AI may be reduced by globally coordinated action.
In the absence of a larger trade agreement, Britain has finalized agreements with specific countries and is attempting to secure similar “targeted agreements” with more countries.
Additionally, Sunak was expected to lobby Biden to support Ben Wallace’s nomination as the next secretary-general of NATO. Wallace is the UK’s defense minister.
Source – Arab News