Chancellor Rachel Reeves has ruled out any lowering of UK import standards on food and vehicles, including chlorinated chicken, hormone-treated beef and US-made trucks, as trade talks with the Trump administration enter a critical phase.
Speaking ahead of her first official meeting with US economic officials in Washington this week, Reeves made it clear that British regulatory standards would not be up for negotiation as part of any future UK-US trade deal. “We are not going to be changing our standards based on asks from foreign governments,” she said. “Decisions around food standards, around digital services, around auto standards, are decisions for the UK government to make.”
Her comments come as President Trump’s officials push for the UK to relax rules on agricultural imports and slash its 10 per cent tariff on American-made cars to 2.5 per cent. According to a document circulated by the White House to US businesses, these demands form part of a wider set of trade ambitions being outlined ahead of formal talks.
Reeves’s firm stance on food safety was welcomed by UK farmers and consumer advocates, who have long feared that any transatlantic deal could open the door to practices banned under British law. “We are not going to be relaxing our food standards. We’ve been clear with the US and they respect that and understand that,” Reeves said, adding that the position was “off the table”.
Despite rejecting regulatory concessions, the chancellor struck a more conciliatory tone on broader trade cooperation. Speaking at a summit hosted by Semafor, she signalled that there was scope for a deal “both on tariffs and also a wider deal beyond the issue of tariffs around technology partnerships and building on the national security”.
“There can be a bilateral process to remove remaining trade barriers that do exist. On that basis, there is a deal to be done,” she said.
Reeves is set to meet Scott Bessent, President Trump’s most senior economic official, on Friday. Bessent has recently helped calm financial markets by signalling a willingness to de-escalate trade tensions with China. The US is currently operating under a 90-day delay before reciprocal tariffs take effect in the summer, and officials have struck a more dovish tone about seeking new international deals.
While Reeves stopped short of ruling out adjustments to import duties—such as the car tariff cut demanded by Washington—she made no commitment, noting that any change would have to apply multilaterally, not just to the US.
The UK government has also announced a forthcoming review of a customs exemption for low-value imports, often used for shipments from China, to crack down on goods that undercut British retailers through unfair pricing and low compliance.
William Bain, head of trade policy at the British Chambers of Commerce, welcomed the focus on fair trade but urged the government to go further. “Labour should consider bolder moves to protect UK industry, including simplifying rules and processes to make trade easier,” he said. “The government should use the EU reset negotiations to remove safety and security declarations for goods and pursue a global pro-growth agenda on trade digitalisation.”
Reeves concluded by reiterating her broader vision: “I believe in free trade. But it also needs to be fair trade—and that’s where the US does have an important point about global imbalances. The UK is not part of that problem. We’re not a country that runs a large trade surplus with the US.”
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Rachel Reeves rules out chlorinated chicken ahead of key US trade talks