UK Pitched Single Market for Goods with EU in Pursuit of Deeper Trade Ties

THE GUARDIAN: Exclusive: Top British official presented idea in Brussels but sources say it was rebuffed

This screenshot has been taken from this Guardian article. | UK government sources denied the EU had definitively rejected a single market for goods. Photograph: Steve Parsons/PA
The UK government pitched the creation of a single market for goods with the EU as the cornerstone of an ambitious attempt to reintegrate British trade back into Europe, the Guardian can reveal.

During recent visits to Brussels, the Cabinet Office’s top official on EU relations, Michael Ellam, presented the idea to deepen the UK’s economic relationship with the bloc.

But in a sign of the challenge Keir Starmer’s government faces in securing growth through a closer relationship with Europe, sources told the Guardian that EU officials rejected the idea – and instead suggested a customs union or economic alignment through the European Economic Area.

Those ideas are impossible under Starmer’s red lines. He said in 2024 the UK would not rejoin the EU, the single market or customs union in his lifetime. The EEA – a single market of 30 mostly EU countries – would also mean accepting free movement of people, another Labour red line.

UK government sources however, denied that the EU had definitively rejected a single market for goods and said it was among a range of options being discussed before a summit tentatively pencilled in for 13 July. » | Jennifer Rankin in Brussels and Rowena Mason | Friday, May 22, 2026

To Trump, Human Rights Concerns Are Often a Barrier to Trade

THE NEW YORK TIMES: RIYADH, Saudi Arabia — Secretary of State Rex W. Tillerson had some advice on Saturday for Iran’s newly re-elected president. The Trump administration, he said, hopes Tehran “restores the rights of Iranians to freedom of speech, to freedom of organization, so that Iranians can live the life that they deserve.”

As he said that at a news conference, Mr. Tillerson was standing next to the Saudi foreign minister, Adel al-Jubeir, who represents a government that does not guarantee free speech or many other rights. When Mr. Tillerson turned to leave, a reporter asked if he had anything to say about human rights in Saudi Arabia. The secretary departed without answering.

President Trump’s visit to Saudi Arabia underscored the calculation he and his foreign policy advisers have made when it comes to questions of human rights around the world.

Mr. Trump and his team made clear they are willing to publicly overlook repression in places like Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states whose leaders are meeting here this weekend — as long as they are allies in areas the president considers more important, namely security and economics. » | Peter Baker and Michael D. Shear | Saturday, May 20, 2017

China Speaks About President Donald Trump, South China Sea, Trade | Full Interview | NBC News

NBC News’ Chief Foreign Correspondent Richard Engel sits down with Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs official Lu Kang to discuss the future of the relationship between the United States and China under President Trump.