In the News

Congressman Richard Neal, chair of the House Ways and Means Committee, said he expects to work closely with U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer following the United Kingdom’s announcement this week it would be formally leaving the European Union.

Britain’s decision to depart from the EU came at 11 p.m. on Friday after a long struggle from lawmakers to formalize a Brexit deal following a referendum in 2016 in which voters approved leaving the union, the Associated Press reported.

A future agreement will also respect the Good Friday Agreement, a peace deal made in 1998 between the British and Irish governments that has maintained prosperity for communities in the United Kingdom, Europe and the U.S. since it was brokered, according to Neal.Future trade talks between Britain and the EU will include discussions on tariffs, the U.K.'s ability to recruit foreign workers and the EU’s access to British fishing grounds, according to the news outlet’s report.

“Many important questions remain open that the United States will need to work with the United Kingdom and the European Union to answer over the next months,” Neal said in a statement.

The White House will soon begin trade negotiations with Britain after the Brexit announcement, the statement said. Neal urged both the Trump administration and the U.K. to form an agreement that reflects the countries’ “shared economic aspirations and democratic values.”

The congressman said he will work with Lighthizer to ensure a potential deal between the two nations has bipartisan support in Congress. He will do so by including protections on workers’ rights, the environment and “Congress’s freedom to regulate in dynamic areas of domestic policy.”