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Boris Johnson last night admitted he faces an uphill battle to persuade Joe Biden to sign a post-Brexit trade deal – saying the President had other 'fish to fry'.
Speaking ahead of his first White House summit today, Mr Johnson said a number of longstanding trade issues had been resolved, such as tariffs on Scotch whisky and the ban on British beef.
But he played down hopes of an imminent trade deal, which was on the cusp of being agreed when Donald Trump left office last year.
Although he said his relationship with Mr Biden has not 'been very long in gestation', he told reporters en route to the US: 'On the free trade agreement (FTA), the reality is that Joe has a lot of fish to fry. He's got a huge infrastructure package, he's got a build back better package.
'We want to do it – but what we want is a good FTA, a great FTA. And I have quite a lot of experience of American negotiations and they are pretty ruthless, the American negotiators.
'And I would much rather get a deal that really works for the UK than get a quick deal.'
Speaking ahead of his first White House summit today, Mr Johnson (pictured on Monday) said a number of longstanding trade issues had been resolved, such as tariffs on Scotch whisky and the ban on British beef
Mr Biden was vice-president when Barack Obama issued his notorious threat to place Britain at the 'back of the queue' for a US trade deal if it voted for Brexit.
He has also made no secret of his concerns about UK efforts to unpick parts of the Brexit trade deal with the EU relating to Northern
