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Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden has promised to protect the Good Friday Agreement.
“We cannot allow the Good Friday Agreement that brought peace to Northern Ireland to become a victim of Brexit,” Biden tweeted.
“Any trade agreement between the US and the UK must depend on respecting the Agreement and preventing the return of a firm border. Period.”
Earlier, senior members of the US Congress told UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab that there will be no trade deal between the US and the UK until they are assured that there is no threat to the Good Friday Agreement. .
Mr. Raab is in Washington and had a meeting on Capitol Hill tonight with the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, and the Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, Congressman Richard Neal.
Speaking after the meeting, Mr. Neal told RTÉ News that Mr. Raab offered clarity and said that a return to a hard border was not considered.
“I pointed out that I thought they had assured us nine months ago in a protocol that had been signed and I wondered if we would have another meeting on peace of mind in the future,” he said.
“We both voiced our points, but we also took the time to point out that until we are calm, there can be no bilateral trade agreement between the United States and the United Kingdom if there is any threat to the Good Friday Agreement,” he added.
Following tonight’s meeting, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said in a statement that she appreciated Dominic Raab’s assurances, but reiterated her message to the UK government.
“If the UK violates its international agreements and Brexit undermines the Good Friday deal, there will be absolutely no chance of a US-UK trade deal being approved by Congress,” he said.
Previously, Raab met with the Secretary of State of the United States, Mike Pompeo.
Pompeo confident UK ‘will get it right’ with Brexit
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has said the US is confident in the UK for Brexit and that they will do well when it comes to protecting the Good Friday Agreement.
Pompeo spoke after a meeting in Washington with UK Foreign Minister Dominic Raab and was questioned by reporters about the UK’s attempts to amend the Brexit Withdrawal Agreement.
“I am sure they will do well. We have made clear the importance of the Good Friday Agreement.
“We know the complexity of the situation. We have done everything we can to provide assistance where we can,” Pompeo said.
“In the end, this will be a set of decisions regarding this that the Unted Kingdom will make and I am very confident that they will do well in a way that treats everyone fairly and gets a good result for what the people of Britain voted in favor, “he added.
Raab said his visit to Washington was a great opportunity to make clear that the threat to the Good Friday Agreement stems from the politicization of the issue by the EU.
He said the UK’s commitment to the Good Friday Agreement and avoiding additional infrastructure at the border was “absolute”.
“What we cannot have is for the EU to seek to erect a regulatory border in the Irish Sea between Northern Ireland and Great Britain,” Raab said.
He also insisted that he was confident in a free trade agreement with the United States after Brexit.
“We discussed the progress in our Free Trade Agreement negotiations since we last met and the importance of a clean and resilient economic recovery from COVID-19,” he said.
“Like Mike, we are willing to accept the negotiators, I think there is a great opportunity for a win-win deal, and we are confident we can get there.”
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