USA - The reality of Britain exiting the European Union in March without a deal has hit home to politicians in the US who are fearing a global economic crash, as the British government awaits a vote on the Prime Minister’s Withdrawal Agreement in January. The likelihood of Mrs May losing the vote followed damning comments from President Trump – who also branded Mrs May’s deal as “a good deal for the EU” and pushed the issue to the front of media agendas.
But a senior US official has told how America is “waking up” to the prospect of the UK leaving the economic bloc – and the future implications of Britain crashing out the EU without a deal would have on the US economy. US Lawmakers working in conjunction with their UK counterparts are worried about transatlantic partnerships being broken.
Washington relies heavily on London as a pathway to Brussels on a range of issues such as intelligence, security, trade and financial services. The senior US policy aide told POLITICO: “Like everything, you start to pay attention when you finally get close to crisis. "And we’re finally starting to get close to crisis. So, people are now paying attention more.
“People are listening, the problem is no-one here really knows what to do. Christopher Giancarlo, chairman of the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission, warned back in October: “We’re concerned that a hard Brexit would have an immediate and significant impact on the global financial system, including US banks, which account for between 40 to 60 percent of activity in the global derivatives markets.”