Britain's International Trade Secretary Anne-Marie Trevelyan is heading to Washington on Monday in her first overseas visit that will focus on bolstering transatlantic trade and investment.
The UK Department for International Trade (DIT) said in a statement that during the three-day visit, Trevelyan is due to meet Trade Representative Katherine Tai and Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo as well as attend a Women in Trade roundtable hosted by the US Chamber of Commerce.
DIT pointed out that the international trade secretary would discuss the recent lifting of a US ban on British beef and lamb, World Trade Organisation (WTO) reform, closer trade ties with individual US states, and further work towards a future free trade agreement with Washington.
Trevelyan's visit will also reportedly see her attempting to help resolve a long-running bilateral dispute over steel and aluminium tariffs.
In 2018, then-US President Donald Trump slapped 25% and 10% tariffs on steel and aluminium imports from the EU. Although the tariffs were scrapped in October 2021, they are still in place for the UK due to its withdrawal from the bloc.
American and British officials recently rejected a Financial Times report claiming that the tariff row-related talks were stalled due to concerns that post-Brexit trade rules may affect Northern Ireland.
Trevelyan, for her part, told reporters late last week about "huge opportunities to deepen the trading links benefiting communities on both sides of the Atlantic".
"We've already made strong progress; from getting British beef and lamb back on US plates, to lowering the cost of Scotch whisky exports by addressing the long-running Airbus-Boeing issue", she stressed.
The remarks came as UK Shadow International Trade Secretary Nick Thomas-Symonds urged Trevelyan to use her visit to Washington "to kickstart the negotiations" on a free trade agreement between London and Washington.
He added that the authorities "have long promised" such an accord "would be top of the priority list".
"We are two years on from the general election and no deal is even in place", Thomas-Symonds pointed out.