British business bodies urge Donald Trump to strengthen economic 'special relationship'

Donald Trump should seek to build on the UK and US' economic "special relationship" and strengthen the trade ties between the two nations, Britain's largest business body said on Tuesday (24 January).

John Dickerman, the head of the Confederation of British Industry's (CBI) US office, told IBTimes UK every effort should be made to make trade and investment easier on both sides of the Atlantic.

"British business kept a close eye on the race for the White House, and congratulates the new president," he said.

"The UK is the largest foreign investor in America, and British companies support over one million jobs in the States, stretching from Alaska to New York.

"As the UK and the USA's economic special relationship continues to go from strength to strength, we hope that the president is committed to building on, and developing, this unique political and trading partnership.

"Firms are keen to understand more about the president's trade policies. Following the UK's decision to leave the European Union, we need to do everything we can to make it easier to trade, invest and drive prosperity on both sides of the Atlantic."

Mike Cherry, national chairman of the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB), told IBTimes UK that any potential US-UK trade deal should "foster a small business friendly environment".

"Currently one in five of our members export, with the top country export destination being the US. The UK-US trading relationship is crucial to businesses on both sides of the Atlantic," he said.

"Any potential UK-US Trade Agreement should foster a small business friendly environment that will help more of our members export. We know that a further 21% of our members would consider exporting so providing the right support is crucial."

The comments come just days before Theresa May meets with the US president in Washington, the first foreign leader to do so after Trump's shock White House victory.

The top politicians are expected to discuss a potential trade agreement between the UK and US after May revealed that she will push for a "bespoke" customs agreement with Brussels and drop Britain's membership of the EU's single market.

"We've always had a special relationship with [the UK]," Sean Spicer, the White House press secretary, told reporters on Monday.

Trump, who promised to put "America first" in his inaugural address, signed an executive order to pull the US out of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade deal and the Republican has promised to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement (Nafta) between the US, Canada and Mexico.

The property tycoon has vowed to implement "massive" tax cuts, including slashing corporation tax from 35% to 15%. Such a move could see the UK government following suit, according to the Institute of Directors (IoD).