The prime minister also denied that Brexit was playing a role in the UK’s economic downturn, which he said must be seen in a global context. Sunak told a news conference at the G20 in Bali that he did not discuss any bilateral trade deal in his first meeting with US President Joe Biden. The UK government previously promised a post-Brexit trade deal with the US by 2022. Sunak said he was “full of optimism” about the relationship, but said any formal agreement could take years. He said he has confidence in “our ability to do more trade with the US, to deepen our economic relationship. This can happen in many different ways and you will see it in the coming months and years I’m sure.” The prime minister has previously stressed a new, more consultative strategy for trade deals despite efforts to meet arbitrary deadlines. “On trade, we actually had a very good conversation with President Biden about a number of things. We did not specifically discuss a trade deal, but we discussed our economic partnership,” he said. “We both recognized the fact that, in fact, the United States is our single largest trading partner and that there is a range of economic cooperation that is happening and may continue to happen in the future. “We talked about energy, for example, and how we can work together to improve energy security at a time when we all want to have more of it at home.” Sunak said he did not accept that Brexit was to blame for the UK economy slowing or inflation soaring, despite the new barriers to trade. “Whatever you think about the economic situation in the UK … two-thirds of the global G20 economies are seeing inflation rates above 7%,” he said. “The IMF believes that a third of the world economy is either in or will be in recession. This is the global context. That’s what’s dominated the conversations I’ve had here and we know why it is, it’s the legacy of Covid and, of course, what Putin is doing is driving up energy prices and indeed food prices.” He said every country will have “idiosyncratic things, but these are the overwhelming dominant factors leading to the economic challenge we’re facing right now.” Archie Bland and Nimo Omer take you to the top stories and what they mean, free every weekday morning Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain information about charities, online advertising and content sponsored by external parties. For more information, see our Privacy Policy. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and Google’s Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. Sunak will meet Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi later before returning to the UK late on Wednesday for the Autumn Statement. Speaking to reporters en route to the summit, Sunak suggested a marked change in approach from Boris Johnson and Liz Truss, who prioritized speed and hard deadlines, having promised a “Diwali deal” that failed to materialize . The change comes after a strong intervention from former environment secretary George Eustice, who criticized the trade deal with Australia signed by Truss, saying it was “not really a very good deal for the UK” and criticizing her for putting “arbitrary goals”. to conclude an agreement. Sunak is understood to want to improve terms for the UK services sector in the deal with India, but there are tensions within the British government over the extent to which the UK should offer visa liberalization. The home secretary, Suella Braverman, is said to have angered Delhi with an interview with the Spectator in which she said she had “qualms” about Britain’s trade deal with India because it could increase immigration to the UK. Sunak earlier said he “wouldn’t sacrifice quality for speed” when it came to the trade. “It’s important to get them right rather than rush them, and so that’s the approach I’ll take to trade deals. Trade is an important part of it, but it’s not the only part, and we will make progress on all of them.”
