UK: White House says undermining Northern Ireland agreement will not help US-UK trade talks

The White House weighed in on the efforts by the British government to unilaterally change the trade rules in the Northern Ireland agreement. White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said efforts to undermine the agreement would not help trade talks between the United States and the United Kingdom.

Jean-Pierre said Wednesday that any efforts to undermine the Northern Ireland Protocol would not create a “conducive environment” for trade talks between London and Washington.

This follows the push by Prime Minister Liz Truss during her time as a member of parliament of a bill that would undo the Northern Ireland Protocol which is part of the UK’s withdrawal agreement with the European Union when it left the bloc.

The Northern Ireland agreement also prioritized the protection of the 1998 Good Friday Agreement for peace in the region.

“There is no formal linkage on trade talks between the US and the UK and the Northern Ireland protocol as we have said, but efforts to undo the Northern Ireland protocol would not create a conducive environment,” said Jean-Pierre.

Tuesday, President Joe Biden spoke with Truss on the phone, where the two leaders discussed their shared commitment to protecting the gains from the Good Friday Agreement as well as the importance of reaching a negotiated solution with the European Union on the Northern Ireland protocol.

Biden, who has touted his Irish roots, has maintained that the UK does not do anything to undermine the quarter century of peace in Northern Ireland.

Truss won the race to become the next prime minister and leader of the UK’s Conservative Party, succeeding Boris Johnson who resigned in July.

The UK is in mourning following the passing of its longest-serving monarch, Queen Elizabeth, on Thursday at 96 years old. Truss’s spokesman said Thursday that she spoke with Prince Charles, who would now become King Charles III after she issued a statement outside the Downing Street office to pay tribute to the Queen.

Truss also called on the country to unite around King Charles, according to her spokesman. Truss was told of the monarch’s death by her cabinet secretary and on the same day hold a meeting of those among her ministers who would be involved in events to pay tribute to the queen and the members of the royal family.