Campaigners warn against Trump deal as trade secrets case reaches Supreme Court
Date: 28 January 2025
- US trade deal would ‘embed Elon Musk wish list’ in Britain
- Supreme Court hears case over public right to see trade papers
Campaigners at Global Justice Now have told the government that a trade deal with Donald Trump’s administration would have a detrimental impact on British food standards, public services and its ability to regulate the Big Tech giants.
The warning comes on the day the Supreme Court hears a case about freedom of information, stemming from a case brought by Global Justice Now to access basic information about trade talks the government is engaged in.(1) The group believes the impact of trade deals on the public means the government should be accountable and transparent about trade talks. But successive governments have refused to give access to this information.(2)
Yesterday a former White House negotiator said that both UK food standards and the NHS would likely by ”on the list” for Trump’s administration – pushing the UK to accept food imports made to lower standards than would be acceptable in Britain and for access to NHS contracts and data.(3)
Campaigners warn, however, that even the supposedly less controversial ‘digital trade’ elements of any deal would have huge consequences for Britain, making it impossible for the government to properly tax and regulate Big Tech corporations or the emerging AI economy.
Nick Dearden, director of Global Justice Now said:
“The government does not have public support to begin negotiating a trade deal with Trump’s administration, knowing that such a deal will threaten our food standards, farmers’ livelihoods and public services. The digital trade section of a trade deal is just as dangerous, as it would embed Elon Musk’s wish list for the UK, allowing the Big Tech oligarchs to bully us when we try to tax and regulate them.
“As a minimum, the government must have a public discussion on this issue. Yet today, we are in the Supreme Court trying to prise very basic information out of them about previous sets of trade talks. Despite a change of government, there is still a commitment to secrecy in trade talks. We can only assume this is because they know how unpopular some of the proposed deals are.”
Notes
1. Department for Business and Trade and another (Respondents) v The Information Commissioner (Appellant), https://supremecourt.uk/cases/uksc-2023-0178
2. For background see https://bsky.app/profile/nickdearden.bsky.social/post/3lgsb7m4tok2s
3. Hormone-pumped beef back on the menu for Trump in trade talks, iNews, 27 January 2025, https://inews.co.uk/news/politics/hormone-pumped-beef-menu-trump-trade-talks-3502781