Source: POLITICO'S MORNING AGRICULTURE, 6/18/20

U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer told lawmakers that the Trump administration won’t agree to any trade deal with the U.K. unless it opens up the British market to more American meat products, Pro Trade’s Doug Palmer reports.

At a House Ways and Means hearing, Lighthizer said the U.S. is “not going to compromise” on lowering the U.K.’s stringent barriers to meat imports, which stem from fear among British and European consumers about certain U.S. ag practices. “We either have fair access for agriculture or we won't have a deal,” he said.

The dispute over beef, pork and poultry exports to Europe has long stymied progress on a separate trade deal with the EU. Lighthizer said the concerns about food safety and animal welfare are “thinly veiled protectionism” by Brussels and London.