UK's new trade minister to hail 'special relationship' in visit to US

Kemi Badenoch seeks to boost transatlantic investment during trip to New York

Kemi Badenoch will hail the "special relationship" between the UK and the US when she travels to New York for her first overseas trip as Trade Secretary. PA.

Kemi Badenoch will hail the “special relationship” between the UK and the US when she travels to New York for her first overseas visit as Trade Secretary.

Ms Badenoch will try to boost trade links between the UK and the US, days after Prime Minister Liz Truss admitted during her recent visit to New York that a coveted post-Brexit free-trade deal may remain out of reach for several years.

The trip also comes amid continuing unease in the Biden administration over the UK’s row with the EU over the Northern Ireland Protocol, which has threatened to sour relations between Britain and the US.

The US is worried about the effect it could have on the peace process.

More immediately, the plunge by the pound in recent days after Friday’s tax-cutting mini-budget also brought questions about the country’s economic direction under the new administration.

Ms Badenoch will take part in the fifth annual Atlantic Future Forum aboard HMS Queen Elizabeth in New York Harbour, where UK businesses across defence and technology will aim to attract US investors.

A meeting with US trade representative Katherine Tai is also scheduled.

Ms Badenoch is expected to put emphasis on the importance of the two countries working together to defend the rules-based international order, and on the role of free trade in delivering global economic security and growth.

“The US is our single most important trade, defence and security partner," she will say. "We share the same values – freedom, free trade and the rule of law.

“Our special relationship means together we are a force for progress as we face down countries who threaten these values.

“The UK is a low-tax, high-talent, innovation nation and I will show America’s biggest companies that we are ready to be their investment partner of choice.”

Ms Badenoch is expected to use the visit to promote the UK as a “defence, cyber and tech superpower”, and highlight the benefits of state-level trade deals, after agreements were signed with Indiana and North Carolina.

Oklahoma and South Carolina are the next targets for trade agreements, the Department for International Trade said.