Trump's Secretary of State Mike Pompeo says Brexit will be 'fantastic' for the United States

• Brexit will be "fantastic" for the United States because it will allow the UK to abandon European trade standards, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Thursday.
• Speaking at an event in London, Pompeo said Brexit would reduce costs for US businesses.
• He said Britain would be "front of the line" for a trade deal after Brexit.
• The United Kingdom is due to leave the EU on Friday, after which it will be free to begin trade talks with the US.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Brexit will be "fantastic" for the United States because it will allow the United Kingdom to abandon European trade regulations and standards, the US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo suggested on Thursday.

Speaking at an event in London, Pompeo said that Britain's exit from the EU on January 31 would reduce barriers to trade between the two countries.

"What I'm optimistic about is that there were things that the United Kingdom was required to do as part of being a member of the EU and they will be able to do them differently now," Pompeo told an event alongside UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab.

"I think that's fantastic. I think that's fantastic for the United States. I think that's fantastic for the United Kingdom.

"We will be able to reduce transaction costs and share [goods and services] in ways we could not do when the United Kingdom was part of that and I look forward to working through that."

Pompeo said that the UK would be at "the front of a line" for a new trade deal after Brexit.

"The last [US] administration had a policy of putting the UK at the back of the line [after Brexit]," he said.

"We have a policy of putting the UK at the front of the line."

The planned US-UK trade deal is highly controversial in the UK. During the recent election campaign, opposition Labour party leader Jeremy Corbyn accused Prime Minister Boris Johnson of planning to sign away UK food and trade standards as part of a Brexit trade deal with Trump.

Leaked UK government documents also revealed that officials had met with US pharmaceutical companies and discussed drug-pricing in the UK.

Johnson repeatedly denied during the campaign that either food standards or the National Health Service would be under threat in any deal with the US.

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