UK-US Post-Brexit Trade Deal Unlikely If Northern Ireland Peace Accords Destroyed, Pelosi Says

LONDON (Sputnik) – US House of Representative Speaker, Nancy Pelosi, predicted on 17 September that if the Good Friday agreement that brought peace to Northern Ireland in 1998 is destroyed, a post-Brexit trade deal between the UK and the US is very “unlikely.”

“If there is destruction of the Good Friday accords, they (are) very unlikely to have a UK-US bilateral,” Pelosi said at an event organized by London’s Chatham House.

The US, and president Joe Biden in particular, has openly expressed concern over the fate of the peace deal following ongoing tensions between the UK and Brussels over the implementation of the post-Brexit Northern Ireland protocol.

As part of the Brexit agreement, Northern Ireland remained in the European single market and customs unions after the UK left the bloc for good on 31 December 2020. However, the UK government has been reluctant to implement the agreed full customs checks, arguing that British businesses needed more time to adjust to the new regulations.

After saying that the Good Friday Accords are “highly respected within the Congress of the United States,” Pelosi stressed that for the US priority for the ongoing negotiations between London and Brussels is “a continued free and open border in Ireland.”

“I am so glad that more time has been given for the negotiations and the conversation because they have to reach an agreement, there has to be an agreement,” she added.

Pelosi met with Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Thursday evening, and according to his office, Johnson outlined the UK’s concerns with the way the Protocol is being implement and the impact it is having on the people of Northern Ireland.