British Prime Minister Theresa May is expected to meet with Wall Street finance leaders on Monday to discuss the consequences of the Brexit vote, a person familiar with the matter said.
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He noted any new free trade agreement that includes UK-EU institutions to enforce regulatory equivalence will look “remarkably like” the Swiss deal with the EU, in which joint committees ensure that Swiss legislation accords with EU law.
She said: “The 27 will sign up to a deal with us, we will be negotiating with them”.
Mrs May continued: “What Liam is doing is encouraging British businesses to export and that’s an important part of his role as Secretary of State for International Trade”.
His officials will negotiate new trading terms with Britain and the talks must “lead to a result where it is clear that it is worth being a member of the EU”, he said.
“There’s something like a million people in the UK wake up each morning and then go to work for an American company in the UK”, said May, who is in NY to attend the United Nations General Assembly.
“I think that’s right for us to do that”.
Ms May, who is in NY for the United National General Assembly, is set to see officials from Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and other banks, according to the source, who spoke on the condition of anonymity.
According to the World Bank, the UK’s GDP a year ago was US$2.84 trillion in current dollars, so the Brexit cost could range from US$21 billion to US$84 billion.
European Union leaders met Friday without Britain in their second summit since the country’s June referendum vote to leave the European Union.
May is being accompanied on the trip by Boris Johnson, the foreign secretary, and Priti Patel, the worldwide development secretary, but not Liam Fox, the trade secretary, who painted United Kingdom companies as too “fat and lazy” to be interested in exporting. Asked about those comments, May gave a diplomatic answer. “We all put things in different ways”, she said. According to the Centre for European Reform (CER), a respected nonprofit think-tank, replacing EU single market membership with a bilateral trade agreement will cost Britain between 0.75 and 3.0 percent of GDP.
May has said she will not trigger the formal European Union divorce this year and will get a good deal for Britain, though elections next year in France and Germany could complicate negotiations on an exit deal.
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