UK abandons hope of US trade deal by end of year

Sam Lowe, a senior research fellow at the Centre for European Reform, said the idea of a trade agreement has “dropped down the government’s agenda” in recent months. He said it was “pie in the sky” to have ever thought the two sides could reach a rapid deal — unless the UK conceded to Washington on everything from agriculture and scrapping its digital sales tax, to giving the US what it wanted on pharmaceutical patents and procurement. “It was always hard to see the government steamrolling that through,” said Mr Lowe.