AFP, London

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer reiterated his willingness to strike a trade deal with the US, he told two publications Friday, ahead of Donald Trump’s presidential inauguration next week.

The UK has sought a major transatlantic free trade agreement ever since formally leaving the European Union in 2021,

But negotiations have broken down, including over Britain’s reluctance to open its borders to some American agricultural products.

“Our ambition is to have a deal of some sorts with the US, a trade deal. That’s where our focus is,” the Labour leader told the Financial Times.

Negotiations between the US and the UK made progress during Trump’s first presidency, but slowed under US president Joe Biden.

The opening of new talks could allow the UK to escape Trump’s pledge to impose tariffs of 10 to 20 percent on all products entering the US.

“We haven’t had the inauguration yet, so let’s see what the decisions are when we get to that stage,” Starmer told Politico on Friday.

“I have been clear that we would like to have discussions about a trade deal with the US,” he added. Stephen Moore, one of Trump’s longest-serving economic advisers, told the BBC in November that the UK should align itself with the American “free enterprise” economic model.

“It would spur the Trump administration’s willingness to the free trade agreement with the UK,” he told the BBC’s Today programme.

Since Brexit, the UK has formed trade agreements with the European Union and other European states, as well as countries further afield such as Australia, New Zealand and Singapore.