Chad Smith, NAFB News Service

The second round of trade talks between the United States and the United Kingdom begin on Monday. U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer is emphasizing his goal of reaching a comprehensive trade deal with the United Kingdom. Politico says that may have been to quell some nervousness in Congress that the U.S. Trade Rep might settle for a mini-deal, similar to the one struck last year with Japan. “We want to have a full-blown agreement with the U.K.,” Lighthizer said last week during a members-only event at the Economic Club of New York. “Right now, they have a very unbalanced trade relationship with the European Union, as we do, and this is an opportunity for each of us to sell more products to each other and possibly increase trade.” While he was emphasizing his desire for a full trade agreement, he put the brakes on the possibility of a quick agreement. “These things will take time,” he says, “both because they’re complicated but also because each of us has to wrap ourselves around the fact that there is going to be a compromise in reaching a major trade deal.”