Britain | Trade and farming

Why food blocks a British-American trade deal

It’s a pig of a problem

WHEN LIZ TRUSS, Britain’s international trade secretary, and her American counterpart, Robert Lighthizer, met in Washington on August 3rd-4th nobody expected a breakthrough. Both parties had previously said that a deal was unlikely to be struck in 2020. That’s partly because food, one of the main issues, is a particularly indigestible matter.

The problem is that farming is not just an industry. What people eat and how they produce their food is central to how societies see themselves.

This article appeared in the Britain section of the print edition under the headline "A pig of a problem"

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