Transatlantic leaders call for continued focus on Atlantic Declaration

Leading transatlantic trade and business organisation BritishAmerican Business (BAB) has warned in a new report that the Atlantic Declaration is at risk of becoming a missed opportunity and is urging the UK and US governments to fulfil their commitment to the agreement.

The Declaration, signed one year ago by UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and US president Joe Biden, aimed to establish a robust framework for a 21st century US-UK economic partnership, setting out 16 commitments in areas such as economic security, defence, technology, and clean energy.

BAB’s new RAG (Red, Amber, Green) report, released to mark the one-year milestone, analyses the progress made to-date and shows mixed results.

The report highlights that in the 12 months since the Atlantic Declaration was signed, only half of the commitments have been achieved. Overall, eight of the commitments have been assigned a green rating, six are rated amber and two have been flagged as red.

The ratings reveal strong progress in aerospace and defence as well as positive collaboration in AI, data regulation and future facing technologies.

BAB is also pleased that the first action plan meeting took place in Washington DC last month as well as the inaugural Strategic Technologies Investor Council meeting, suggesting both governments are keen to maintain momentum.

However, concerns remain around the other items in the Declaration, where progress has been minimal or non-existent, including the Critical Minerals Agreement and convening the government-to-government meeting of the Comprehensive Dialogue on Tech & Data.

In its report, BAB encourages both governments to continue implementing the commitments and calls on the US and the UK governments to prioritise those that could have the biggest impact, as well as the greatest chance of success. This includes continuing to develop a workplan on critical and emerging technologies, as well as making more visible progress with the Joint Action Group on Energy Security and Affordability.

BritishAmerican Business CEO Duncan Edwards said: “The commitments set out in the Atlantic Declaration have the potential to be transformative for the US/UK trade and economic relationship, but the lack of substantial progress on several of the commitments one year on is disappointing. The benefits of this Agreement will only be realised if both governments prioritise this work and commit to its implementation.

“As elections loom in both countries, it is crucial that the current and next administrations see the Atlantic Declaration as an opportunity too valuable to overlook. That is why BritishAmerican Business has been urging government officials to focus on the high impact commitments and engage with business and stakeholders to help achieve what was set out in this important declaration signed a year ago.

“By providing this evaluation, BAB hopes to play a leading role in supporting the efforts of both governments, as well as promoting accountability of the process.”