[Source/Observer Network Xiong Chaoyan] According to an exclusive report by The Guardian on April 16 based on local time, when US President Trump launched a tariff war, British officials were strengthening security measures when handling sensitive trade documents to prevent these documents from falling into the hands of the US side.
The report cited sources as saying that British civil servants had revised the document handling guidelines, giving higher confidentiality classifications to some trade negotiation documents to guard against the US side seeing them, which also indicates signs of tension in the so-called "special relationship" between the UK and the US.
Sources also said that British officials were told that this revision of the document handling guidelines was directly related to the tense relations between the UK and the US on important issues such as trade and foreign policy. Currently, the US is imposing so-called "reciprocal tariffs" on trade partners including China, the EU, and the UK, not only disrupting the order of the global financial market but also damaging key international relations around the world.
In response to the current global tariff war, UK Prime Minister Starmer prioritizes reaching a trade agreement with the US, choosing not to retaliate against the tariffs imposed by the US but instead making concessions in areas such as digital tax and agriculture.
On April 15 local time, US Vice President Vance said he believed that a mutually beneficial US-UK trade agreement was within reach. He stated that US officials were "certainly working very hard with the Starmer government on a trade agreement," and emphasized that it was an "important bilateral relationship."
UK Prime Minister Starmer and US President Trump, file photo
The Guardian said that although the facade at diplomatic events is like this, behind the scenes, there is growing concern about the impact of Trump's "America First" agenda on British industries and businesses.
According to documents reviewed by The Guardian, before Trump took office, files related to UK-US trade negotiations were usually marked as "Official-Sensitive (for UK eyes only)," and officials were allowed to share these files on internal email chains. Even after the White House clearly ruled out the possibility of a comprehensive trade agreement, this level of confidentiality continued to be used during the UK officials' attempts to negotiate with the Biden administration.
Insiders revealed that now, among files and letters discussing detailed negotiation positions being discussed by officials at No. 10 Downing Street, the Foreign Office, and the Department for International Trade, a larger proportion of these files and letters are accompanied by additional handling instructions to avoid interception by the US side, with some even classified as "Confidential" and "Top Secret." These classified files also come with specialized electronic transmission instructions to avoid interception.
A senior business source said that companies with commercial interests in the UK have also been told to take additional precautions when sharing information with trade departments and the prime minister's office, including large pharmaceutical companies operating in the UK and EU.
A spokesperson for the UK Department for International Trade said: "The US is an indispensable ally, and we are both actively promoting economic prosperity agreements to strengthen existing trade relations."
The Guardian pointed out that whether the special relationship between the UK and the US can withstand increasingly divergent policies toward the Ukraine issue and sharp criticism of NATO and defense cooperation is raising wider doubts. In the field of trade, pressure on sensitive industries such as automobile manufacturing and pharmaceuticals is also increasing.
In recent years, the UK and the US have been very close in terms of defense and security, to the point where government confidential materials are often marked as "For UK/US Eyes Only" or "Five Eyes Alliance." So far, The Guardian has only found changes in the way trade discussion-related documents are handled.
Meanwhile, another British media outlet, Financial Times, reported on April 14 that due to concerns over "American infiltration into the internal system of the committee," the European Commission is distributing disposable phones and basic laptops to four commissioners who will travel to the US next week. This move, seen as viewing the US as a potential security threat, highlights the deterioration of transatlantic relations since Trump returned to the White House in January.
At the same time, affected by Trump's border policies, many Europeans have developed "negative feelings" towards traveling to the US. Data from the US International Trade Administration shows that in March, the total number of overseas visitors to the US fell by 12% compared to the previous year, marking the largest drop since the tourism sector was hit by pandemic restrictions in March 2021. Additionally, the number of Western European tourists staying at least one night in the US dropped by 17% compared to the same period last year. Among them, the number of visitors from countries such as Ireland, Norway, and Germany declined by more than 20%.
This article is an exclusive piece by Observer Network and cannot be reprinted without permission.
Original source: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7494286538177364543/
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