The US government and the United Kingdom have announced the launch of a new civil nuclear partnership with the aim of “keeping Russia out of the global civil nuclear energy market.” This initiative is part of a broader agreement called the Atlantic Declaration, which seeks to strengthen cooperation between the two nations in a number of areas.
During British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s visit to Washington, where he met with US President Joe Biden, this alliance was finalized. In addition to the nuclear partnership, the United States and the United Kingdom committed to begin negotiations to strengthen the supply chains of five key minerals for the production of electric vehicles: cobalt, graphite, lithium, manganese, and nickel. This initiative will enable British manufacturers to benefit from subsidies set out in the US Inflation Reduction Act.
In addition, both nations agreed to expand their cooperation in areas such as artificial intelligence, 5G and 6G networks, quantum computing, semiconductors, and biological engineering. They also pledged to remove bureaucratic barriers to data exchange, which it is estimated could save more than $116 million a year.
Separately, it was agreed that Biden would submit to Congress a proposal to designate the UK as a “domestic source” under the US Defense Production Act, which would allow British companies to win state contracts in the United States.
Although this agreement does not represent a full free trade agreement between the UK and the US, as promised after Brexit, the Atlantic Declaration involves a series of economic agreements that mark a shift toward mutual protectionism rather than unfettered free trade, The Guardian reports.