The Biden administration has sent Liz Truss a message on her second day in office to warn of “efforts to undo the Northern Ireland protocol”.
The warning came from the lectern in the White House briefing room, where spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre was asked about new British Prime Minister Truss’ first phone call with Joe Biden and whether a trade agreement between the United States and the United Kingdom.
Northern Ireland was not mentioned in the question, but Jean-Pierre raised it anyway.
“There is no formal link on US-UK trade talks and the Northern Ireland Protocol, as we have said, but efforts to undo the Northern Ireland Protocol would not create an enabling environment, and basically this is where we are in dialogue,” said Jean-Pierre.
“It does not lead to a trade deal” is the established position of the administration in the face of British threats, led by Truss, to pass legislation that negates part of the Northern Ireland protocol.
The protocol is the UK’s agreement with the EU on how to square Brexit with an open border between the two Irelands established by the Good Friday Peace Agreement of 1998. The US helped negotiate this agreement and there is a staunch bipartisan opposition to any move that could endanger it.
Truss’ strong support for the defense of Ukraine is welcomed in Washington, but his position on the protocol is seen as the major irritant in bilateral relations.
The White House was surprised by Truss’s announcement in May, when she was foreign secretary, that the government would proceed with legislation that would rewrite parts of the protocol, in a way widely seen as a violation of international law. Boris Johnson had assured Biden’s team that no decision had been made.
The legislation is making its way through parliament and the US has warned the government not to put it to a vote or risk a break with the US and the EU.
The tension was evident in the pointed differences between the official accounts of the Truss-Biden phone call. The Downing Street version said they had “agreed on the importance of protecting the Belfast (Good Friday) agreement”.
The White House readout said they “discussed their shared commitment to protecting the gains of the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement and the importance of reaching a negotiated agreement with the European Union on the Ireland Protocol of North”.
Addressing parliament on Wednesday, Truss said: “My preference is for a negotiated solution, but it has to achieve all the things that we set out in the Northern Ireland Protocol Bill, and what we cannot allow is let this situation go.”
US officials welcomed her stated preference for talks, and a message from the White House on Wednesday was aimed at dissuading her from giving up, warning that the tenor of the relationship could be at stake.
Asked if Biden and Truss would meet at the UN general assembly later this month, Jean-Pierre said: “At the moment we have no meeting or anything like that to read.”