British Prime Minister's Visit: Biden and Sunak Agree to Strengthen Economic Ties and A.I. Safety

Jun 13, 2023

The leaders also focused on their shared support for Ukraine, with Sunak saying, "We will be here as long as it takes." It was his first visit to Washington as prime minister.

transcript

"Today, we’re releasing a new plan to equip our economic partnership for the 21st century. It outlines how we can enhance our cooperation to accelerate the clean energy transition that must take place, and is taking place, lead the development of emerging technologies that are going to shape so much of our future and protect technologies critical to our national security. And a key piece of that is working together to strengthen our critical minerals supply chains and to make them more resilient. So we’re not dependent on any one country to meet our goals." "This week alone, 14 billion pounds of new American investment has been committed into the U.K., creating thousands of jobs. It means stronger supply chains with a new action plan on clean energy, and it means reducing trade barriers in the technologies of the future, with a new secure U.K.-U.S. data bridge, helping tens of thousands of small businesses."

Katie Rogers

President Biden and Prime Minister Rishi Sunak of Britain affirmed their support for Ukraine on Thursday, pledging to continue drumming up financial and military aid for Kyiv as fighting intensifies on Russia's front lines.

Mr. Sunak, who made his first visit as prime minister to Washington and is intent on establishing a post-Brexit Britain as a competent and reliable global player, said his country would not turn away from Ukraine. That commitment comes even as both he and Mr. Biden face economic headwinds and domestic concerns about the length of the war.

"There is no point in trying to wait us out," Mr. Sunak said at a news conference with Mr. Biden in the East Room of the White House, addressing Vladimir V. Putin of Russia, whom he accused of wrongly assuming that the West would tire of providing support. "We will be here as long as it takes."

Mr. Biden said he was confident that he could persuade a divided Congress to support a new round of funding for Ukraine, though he would not put a dollar amount on the package.

"I believe we’ll have the funding necessary to support Ukraine as long as it takes," Mr. Biden said, adding that a "vast majority" of his critics in Congress would agree that funding Ukraine would be better than allowing Russia to go unchecked.

Mr. Sunak's two-day visit was a high-profile engagement for a 43-year-old leader who has held his office only since October and is eager to establish himself on the world stage. It also presented an opportunity for Mr. Biden to deepen his relationship with a young leader who is keenly aware that his role has historically been to be one of the closest allies to the American president.

Both men hailed the special relationship between the United States and the United Kingdom, with each taking time to praise the other for leadership on Ukraine. But Mr. Sunak, who has been in pursuit of a free-trade agreement with the United States — something that Brexit supporters in Britain promised as an alternative to membership in the European Union — will leave Washington with only a modest pact unveiled by both countries on Thursday.

The agreement, called the Atlantic Declaration, will bring the countries closer on research around quantum computing, semiconductor technologies and artificial intelligence, a field in which developments are often faster than the efforts to regulate them.

"What it does is responds to the particular opportunities and challenges that we face right now and into the future," Mr. Sunak said of the agreement, when asked if it meant that he had failed on his promise to secure a trade deal. Mr. Biden, whose Inflation Reduction Act raised some concerns among allies, said that shoring up manufacturing in the United States and bolstering supply chains would "not hurt any of our allies and friends in terms of the trade pieces."

Mr. Sunak did not receive an easy victory in his soft campaign to replace NATO's secretary general, Jens Stoltenberg, who is expected to leave his post in September. Mr. Sunak has publicly pushed for his defense secretary, Ben Wallace, to take the job. When a reporter asked if it was time for a British official to serve as the secretary general, Mr. Sunak grinned widely, but Mr. Biden did not take the bait.

"That remains to be seen," Mr. Biden said. Earlier in the week, he hosted Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen of Denmark, who is also said to be interested in the job.

Mr. Biden had warm words for Mr. Sunak when it came to the prime minister's efforts to bring leaders together over issues raised by artificial intelligence. Mr. Sunak is a self-described "techie" who will host a summit on A.I. later this year.

"We are looking to Great Britain to help make that effort to figure out a way through this so we are in full, total cooperation," Mr. Biden said.

The exchange over A.I. was met with measured skepticism by experts who noted that the efforts of a post-Brexit prime minister may do little to spur leaders to act.

"A London conference on AI regulation is a good thing," Peter Ricketts, a former national security adviser to Prime Minister David Cameron, wrote on Twitter. "The Brits are good at convening. But this isn't the same as leading on norm-setting. The heavy lifting is going on in the US-EU dialogue."

But others pointed out that Mr. Sunak has worked to bring his country closer to an array of allies, including by signing off on a plan with the United States and Australia to develop and deploy nuclear-powered attack submarines.

"Making this whole partnership with the United States and Australia, and even Korea and Singapore, more of a thing is the most natural way he can continue to help Britain punch above its weight," Michael E. O’Hanlon, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, said in an interview.

Mr. Biden and Mr. Sunak have met several times at diplomatic events in recent months, including over coffee when Mr. Biden traveled to Northern Ireland in April. Despite their political differences — Mr. Biden is a moderate liberal and Mr. Sunak a conservative — both men have a shared leadership style that emphasizes even-keeled diplomacy.

Mr. Biden has spent much of his time in office seeking to stabilize the United States’ relationship with allies around the world after the Trump presidency. And Mr. Sunak, who became prime minister after the bombastic tenure of Boris Johnson and the very brief one of Liz Truss, has sought to establish himself as a more dependable occupant of 10 Downing Street. Yet both leaders have low approval ratings, and both lead countries that have so far managed to avoid an economic recession but whose voters feel financially constrained by inflation.

On this visit, Mr. Sunak was under pressure to assure doubters in the United States and at home that, after Brexit, Britain remains as reliable an ally as ever. He came to Washington with gifts, including a custom Barbour jacket, a staple of British outerwear, for Mr. Biden, and both leaders peppered their meetings with historical knowledge about prime minister-presidential relationships past.

"Prime Minister Churchill and Roosevelt met here a little over 70 years ago, and they asserted that the strength of the partnership between Great Britain and the United States was the strength of the free world," Mr. Biden said. "I still think there's truth to that assertion."

There was the occasional personal flourish — mostly from Mr. Sunak — including when the prime minister mentioned at the news conference that their wives had gotten to know each other over spin class dates. At one point, he complimented his lodgings at Blair House, the home across the White House reserved for foreign dignitaries: "The spare room in the flat in Number 10 Downing Street doesn't quite compare," he quipped.

Still, their bond did not yet appear to be the same close one that Tony Blair forged with President Bill Clinton and then with President George W. Bush. At another point, Mr. Sunak invoked Churchill's early-morning wanderings of the White House and "bothering Mrs. Roosevelt."

"Don't worry," Mr. Sunak said, "you won't see me doing that."

Stephen Castle contributed reporting from London.

Zolan Kanno-Youngs

Taking one last question from reporters, Biden was asked why voters should trust an independent Justice Department as it investigates Trump. Biden said that he had never told the Justice Department what it should do. "I am honest."

Katie Rogers

Biden smiled broadly when asked about accusations from congressional Republicans that he was involved in a bribery scheme. "Where's the money?" he asked, before calling the allegations "a bunch of malarkey."

Stephen Castle

The body language today has been notably warmer and more relaxed than when Biden met Sunak for coffee at a hotel in Belfast, Northern Ireland, in April. Still, this doesn't look quite like the same kind of close bond that Tony Blair forged with President Clinton and then President George W. Bush.

Katie Rogers

With NATO's secretary general, Jens Stoltenberg, expected to leave his post in September, Sunak has publicly pushed for his defense secretary to take the job. Sunak grinned widely when the last question was about whether it is time for a British official to lead NATO. "That remains to be seen," Biden said, not taking the bait.

Mark Landler

Brexiteers billed a free-trade agreement with the United States as a major dividend of leaving the European Union. Sunak is making the best of what is at most a consolation prize.

Stephen Castle

Sunak has faced domestic criticism over the lack of a comprehensive free trade agreement with the United States because his party suggested in 2019 that it could secure one within three years. He's now being accused of a broken promise.

Katie Rogers

The White House had to postpone an outdoor Pride Month event because of the air pollution outside — what a sentence — but Biden says that his administration is taking steps to counter anti-L.G.B.T.Q. sentiment in the United States, including what the president says is a plan to "strengthen the physical safety" of marches, community events and health care centers. The event has been rescheduled for Saturday.

Zolan Kanno-Youngs

Biden has often said foreign allies are concerned and ask about human rights violations and threats against democratic norms within the United States. Sunak is getting a front-row seat for the discussion of those threats today as Biden is asked about the restricting of transgender rights in the United States.

Stephen Castle

The new agreement "Atlantic Declaration" on economic cooperation may be nothing like a transatlantic trade agreement, but it helps Sunak's domestic argument that Britain has a secure future after Brexit, which took it out of the European Union and its massive trading market.

Katie Rogers

Sunak, who is a similarly vocal supporter of Kyiv, said that Vladimir V. Putin of Russia would be wrong if he assumed that Western allies would tire of supporting Ukraine. "There is no point in trying to wait us out," Mr. Sunak said. "We will be here as long as it takes."

Zolan Kanno-Youngs

"I believe we’ll have the funding to support Ukraine as long as it takes," Biden says in what appeared to be a prepared answer (he is looking at notes). This comes amid questions on Capitol Hill about additional funding for Ukraine aid.

Katie Rogers

Taking a question on Ukraine, Biden says that the United States has "done everything we could" to prepare Kyiv to mount an aggressive counteroffensive on Russian front lines, and added that he was confident that Congress would continue to approve funding for support as the fighting continued, despite infighting among Republicans and softening domestic support for the war.

Katie Rogers

Biden did not answer a question about how much continuing support Ukraine might cost.

Stephen Castle

Sunak's pitch to doubters in the United States is that, after Brexit, Britain remains "as reliable" an ally as ever. He aims to reassure those in United States who saw Britain's withdrawal from the European Union as a retreat from the global stage.

Zolan Kanno-Youngs

Early in his remarks, Biden praised Sunak for his support for Ukraine. This comes as Republicans in Congress debate how to support Ukraine with additional funding. And some House Republicans say they will fight additional aid to Ukraine. The administration has not said whether it will seek a supplemental bill in the coming weeks.

Katie Rogers

On Ukraine, Sunak returned the compliment by praising the United States for providing "leadership and resources" that have allowed "the forces of democracy and freedom to prevail."

Stephen Castle

President Biden has used the words Rishi Sunak will have wanted to hear about U.S-U.K. ties, calling it a "special relationship." He added: "there is no country closer to us than the United Kingdom."

Katie Rogers

Biden says that the United States and the United Kingdom are releasing an economic plan that will help strengthen economic ties between the two countries, including plans to strengthen the global minerals supply chain. And on quantum computing and A.I., Biden says "we are going to do more on joint research and development to ensure the future will remain fundamentally aligned with the values of both of our countries."

Zolan Kanno-Youngs

Biden has already corrected one previous mistake by correctly pronouncing the prime minister's name. During a White House event celebrating Diwali last year, Biden mispronounced Rishi Sunak's name while congratulating him for becoming the United Kingdom's new prime minister.

Katie Rogers

Biden and Sunak have taken the stage and the president began his remarks by addressing the wildfires in Canada. He said that over 600 firefighters have been deployed to Canada and he urged Americans to heed guidance from local officials.

Katie Rogers

A jolly-sounding voice on the PA system just told us to silence our cell phones so hopefully this presser is imminent.

Katie Rogers

Some of Biden's closest advisers have taken their seats in the East Room, a sign that we may be getting closer to the start of the news conference.

Katie Rogers

The news conference is running about a half hour behind schedule. This is not completely out of the ordinary for Biden.

Mark Landler

As we wait for Joe Biden and Rishi Sunak, it's worth recalling the awkward first news conference of Donald J. Trump and Prime Minister Theresa May in January 2017. When a British reporter asked Trump how he responded to a British public that was terrified about his presidency, he said, "There goes that relationship!"

Michael D. Shear

President Biden and British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak are trying to find ways to strengthen their intertwined supply chains against further damage from foreign adversaries and other global threats.

Mr. Sunak's government, like those in other European capitals, has expressed frustration over the trade implications of Mr. Biden's Inflation Reduction Act, which sends billions of dollars in subsidies to American companies in the green energy industry.

But Mr. Sunak is not expected to press for a free-trade agreement between the two nations. Rather, the British leader is stressing the need for even greater cooperation to fend off hostile threats to both economies, officials said.

"The UK and US have always worked in lock step to protect our people and uphold our way of life," he said ahead of the meeting, according to a statement from the British embassy. "As the challenges and threats we face change, we need to build an alliance that also protects our economies."

Karine Jean-Pierre, the White House press secretary, said last month that the two leaders will "discuss efforts to continue strengthening our economic relationship as we confront shared economic and national security challenges."

The economic relationship with Britain is a critical one for the United States. Trade between the two nations is worth about $350 billion a year, and there are numerous ties between companies located in both the United States and Britain.

But Britain's decision to exit the European Union caused trade tensions between the two that proved to be an irritant in the relationship with Washington. Earlier this year, with Mr. Biden's urging, Mr. Sunak resolved a trade dispute with Northern Ireland, a move seen as positive by Mr. Biden's administration.

And the two countries waged a yearslong war of tariffs over a dispute involving Airbus and Boeing. The two countries lifted tariffs in that dispute in the summer of 2021, after 17 years.

But British officials stressed ahead of Thursday's meeting that Mr. Sunak intends to focus on expanding the economic connections between the two countries.

"By combining our vast economic resources and expertise, we will grow our economies, create jobs and keep our people safe long into the future," Mr. Sunak said.

On Thursday British reporters traveling with the British prime minister challenged him over the lack of progress toward a trade deal with the United States, pointing out that achieving one within three years was an objective set out by Mr. Sunak's Conservative Party in its 2019 election manifesto.

Asked whether this was now a broken promise, Mr. Sunak rejected that assertion, telling Sky News that it reflected a changed macro economic situation after 2019. "Since then, we’ve had a pandemic. We’ve had a war in Ukraine and that has changed the macro economic situation," he said.

In Britain, a trade agreement with the United States had been presented as a potential opportunity to offset the economic costs of Brexit, a policy that Mr. Sunak supported. In reality, any prospect of a comprehensive deal faded some time ago, but political opponents seized on Mr. Sunak's words on Thursday.

"It's clear they have failed on that promise, among many other promises," said Keir Starmer, the leader of Britain's opposition Labour Party.

Stephen Castle

British leaders take pride in what they call their country's "special relationship" with the U.S., so a first visit to the White House is an important political moment for Rishi Sunak.

Katie Rogers

I’m at the White House and reporters with the American and British presses are seated in the East Room.

Michael D. Shear

We’re waiting for a news conference at the White House featuring President Biden and Prime Minister Sunak. Biden has historically done fewer news conferences than his predecessors, and this will not be a full-blown one. It will be what is called a "2 & 2," where American reporters get 2 questions and British reporters get 2 questions.

Mark Landler

The meeting between President Biden and Prime Minister Rishi Sunak in Washington will most likely be consumed by the here-and-now threat of Russia's war on Ukraine.

Britain's robust military support for the Ukrainian Army has kept it a central player in the Western response to Russia's invasion. Britain's readiness to train Ukrainian pilots on combat jets was a catalyst for Mr. Biden's recent shift in favor of training Ukrainians on F-16 fighter jets and eventually supplying planes.

Those decisions took on new urgency after the calamitous breach this week of the Kakhovka dam, on the front line, which Ukrainian officials blamed on Russian troops, who control the dam, planting explosives, and which Moscow blamed on Ukrainian saboteurs.

If Russian forces were demonstrated to be behind the attack, Mr. Sunak told reporters on his flight to Washington, it would constitute "the largest attack on civilian infrastructure in Ukraine since the start of the war, and just would demonstrate the new lows that we would have seen from Russian aggression."

Britain has stayed in lock step with the United States since the start of the war, with Mr. Sunak showing the same vigorous support for President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine as his former boss and predecessor, Boris Johnson.

While at the White House, Mr. Sunak will also have a chance to lobby Mr. Biden to support Ben Wallace, Britain's defense minister, to replace Jens Stoltenberg as secretary general of NATO. Mr. Wallace routinely wins the highest approval ratings of any cabinet minister, but France prefers an E.U. candidate.

For Mr. Sunak, who faces economic clouds at home, the optics of the visit are as important as any policy outcomes. He has fared better on the global stage than at home in recent weeks, parlaying Britain's support of Ukraine into a strong voice among the leaders of the Group of 7 countries.

Mark Landler

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak of Britain began a two-day visit to Washington on Wednesday with a goal of aligning two allies on the challenges of artificial intelligence.

Mr. Sunak, a self-described techie who has an M.B.A. from Stanford University, will host a summit meeting in the fall on the regulatory issues raised by A.I., part of a plan to make Britain a leader in controlling this fast-developing technology. But because Britain left the European Union in 2020, it is not part of the dialogue between the United States and the European Union on how to deal with it.

"If the U.S. and E.U. agree, the rest of the world follows, and Brexit Britain is in danger of being squeezed out," said Kim Darroch, a former British ambassador to the United States. As sensible it is to confront the challenge of A.I., he added, Britain had more promising avenues to pursue with Washington.

Britain is constrained by its go-it-alone status: It is no longer a member of the Trade and Technology Council, where Washington and Brussels hash out A.I.-related policies.

Katie Rogers

President Biden and Prime Minister Rishi Sunak of Britain met at the White House on Thursday and asserted that the "special relationship" between the two countries was strong enough to meet challenges posed by artificial intelligence, economic headwinds and an ongoing war in Ukraine.

Mr. Biden and Mr. Sunak have met several times at diplomatic events in recent months, but the prime minister's two-day visit to Washington, his first as prime minister, was a high-profile engagement.

Here's what else to know about the visit:

Mr. Sunak, under pressure to establish post-Brexit Britain as a competent and reliable global player, said that President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia would be wrong if he assumed that Western allies would tire of supporting Ukraine. "There is no point in trying to wait us out," Mr. Sunak said. "We will be here as long as it takes." Mr. Biden said that the United States had "done everything we could" to prepare Kyiv to mount an aggressive counteroffensive on Russian front lines. He said that he was confident that Congress would continue to approve funding, despite infighting among Republicans and softening domestic support for the war.

Mr. Biden said that the United States and the United Kingdom were releasing a new plan that the leaders said would strengthen economic ties between the two countries, including the global supply of global minerals.

On quantum computing and A.I., Mr. Biden said that the two countries "are going to do more on joint research and development to ensure the future will remain fundamentally aligned with the values of both of our countries." Mr. Sunak, who is hosting a global summit to address A.I. later this year, said that he and the president have agreed to work together on A.I. safety.