Is The UK Mirroring US Fiscal Policy To Secure Trade Deal?
Published / Last Updated on 30/09/2021
We have been watching closing the monetary and fiscal policy of both the US and UK during the pandemic and much appears to be very similar.
Both countries have had similar experiences during the pandemic. Similar covid-19 infection rates, death rates, vaccination roll-out rates and financial support packages.
We know that Biden has published his “American Families Plan” to reward work rather than wealth in the economy and certainly we are expecting similar things in Rishi Sunak’s budget with increases to wealth type taxes on capital gains tax, corporation tax and dividend taxes as well as allowances frozen including inheritance tax thresholds and pension lifetime allowance.
The US and Uk have remarkably similar tax rates for income, gains, shares and inheritance tax although allowances are higher in the US.
Even the UK and the US’s quantitative easing (debt buy back) programme, interest rate controls and inflation increases to devalue public sector debt all appear to be following the same path.
Is the UK looking for uniformity to enable a trade deal direct with US or to become part of the US, Canada and Mexico trade agreement? We think so. By harmonising taxes, it will mean UK firms or US firms do not have a trading advantage if any deal is struck.
