US-UK trade deal talks stall — again — over food standards

Chlorinated chicken and hormone-treated beef return to derail negotiations for the fourth time in five years.

Talks aimed at concluding a comprehensive US-UK trade agreement have stalled once again, with both sides confirming overnight that the latest round in Washington ended without a breakthrough.

The familiar sticking points — agricultural standards, digital services taxation and pharmaceutical pricing — proved as immovable as ever, with neither government willing to be seen blinking first.

Trade Secretary Jonathan Reynolds insisted progress had been made 'in areas the public never reads about', but conceded that the most politically sensitive issues remain 'genuinely difficult'.

For the White House, the calculation is increasingly electoral: any deal seen to compromise American farmers risks alienating swing-state voters ahead of the midterms.