Why a soft Brexit could hurt a US-UK trade partnership

This week’s release of a white paper with the blueprint for how the British plan to exit the European Union, two years after the country voted to do so, spurred major political resignations and furor from President Trump.

Venting to The Sun, a conservative newspaper owned by Rupert Murdoch (who also owns 21st Century Fox, the parent company of FOX Business), Trump said Prime Minister Theresa May had “wrecked it” and if her plan to exit the E.U. maintained their trade partnership, that would be a problem and “probably kill” a bilateral trade deal with the U.S.

Facing international pressure, Trump later walked back the comments, first calling them “fake news” and later saying that whatever May wanted to do with Brexit was fine with him.

But according to Parliament member Kate Hoey, many British citizens who voted for Brexit likely agree with Trump’s criticism of the White Papers.

“There will be a lot of people who voted to leave who share his concerns that perhaps, if we go down in detail the way that the white paper implies, it would make it extremely difficult to have independent, free-trade deals with other countries,” she said during an interview with FOX Business’ Liz Claman on Friday.

The 104-page document laid out five main areas of focus, including the economy. According to The Guardian, the white paper says the goal is to minimize “disruption to trade between the UK and the EU, protecting jobs and livelihoods,” as well as stipulating free trade areas for goods.

If the UK remains too tethered to the 27 remaining European Union countries, it could hinder their trade deals with other nations, she warned. A soft Brexit could require the UK to comply with certain regulations from the EU, which would likely benefit large corporations, but not small businesses, she said.

“We’re going to make sure that doesn’t happen,” Hoey said. “Otherwise we won’t be able to reach out and have that really good trade deal with the United States.”