British manufacturers warn trade deal could bring import flood

British manufacturers have written to the government to express their concern that the country could find itself flooded with cheap poor quality imported products if the United Kingdom is forced into accepting United States standards as part of any potential free trade agreement.

The prospect of a deal with the US has long been one of the mainstays of the Brexit argument, and the country now finds itself in the position of trying to conduct negotiations over a Brexit deal with the European Union at the same time as hoping to secure a deal with Washington before the US elections in November.

A letter signed by the British Standards Institution, the British Chambers of Commerce and national manufacturing umbrella group Make UK has been sent to Minister for Trade Policy Greg Hands, warning of the impact an influx of imports would have on UK businesses.

The signatories are concerned that British companies could end up having to run two separate systems, with the ensuing extra burden of cost, or submitting to US demands, making a mockery of the Brexit mantra of taking back control.

If the US repeats its behavior in trade deals with Mexico and Canada and takes an aggressive attitude toward exports, the letter says a deal could have the potential "to permit US businesses to bring legal challenges against the prioritizing of UK standards in critical areas such as the safety of PPE (personal protective equipment) or children's toys".

"The US are insisting that we sign up to their standards but then they will use the courts to make their standards a priority over our own," added Stephen Phipson, head of Make UK. "That gives them a competitive advantage."

A spokesperson from the Department for International Trade called the British Standards Institution's concerns "utter speculation. UK regulation is a matter for the UK government".

The letter comes in the same week that Japan gave Britain a six-week deadline to negotiate its first independent trade deal in more than four decades, but International Trade Scretary Liz Truss has told members of Parliament the country will not be pressurized into accepting any bad deals.

The manufacturing sector's comments echo ones already made by the British agriculture industry about concern over food hygiene standards.

Supermarket chain Waitrose has already said it will "never sell any Waitrose product" that does not meet its own standards, irrespective of what a future trade deal might say, and the chief executive of Tesco, Dave Lewis, has also pledged to uphold the company's own standards on food.