Post-Brexit US trade demands would bring in chlorinated chicken and ramp up NHS drug costs, MPs warn

Trump’s ‘negotiating objectives’ would also rip up restrictions on personal data leaving the country and on sale of products with asbestos, critics say

Aggressive US demands for a post-Brexit trade deal with the UK will allow in chlorine-washed chicken and ramp up the cost of NHS drugs, MPs have warned.

The proposals would also rip up restrictions on shipping personal data out of the country and even sanction the sale of products with dangerous materials including asbestos, they said.

The warning came after Donald Trump’s administration published “negotiating objectives” suggesting Britain will not enjoy softer treatment than other US allies in any trade deal.

Critics pointed out the blueprint would:

* Remove barriers on “sanitary and physiosanitary” standards in the farm industry – a demand to sell chlorine-washed chicken and hormone-pumped beef, they said.

* “Provide full market access for US products” – potentially ending NHS controls on medicine costs in favour of US-style direct-marketing of drugs.

* “Ensure that the UK does not impose measures that restrict cross-border data flows” – ending current restrictions the UK imposes as a member of the European Economic Area (EEA).

* Ensure remanufactured goods for export “are not classified as used goods that are restricted or banned” – not even those containing asbestos fibres, it was argued.

* Ensure “the UK avoids manipulating exchange rates” to gain a competitive advantage – including currency policy within UK trade negotiations for the first time.

* Allow the US to ditch the trade deal if it objects to the terms of any other UK agreement with a “non-market economy”, such as China.

Theresa May’s spokeswoman attempted to calm the fears, insisting the government had ruled out lowering food standards in any future trade deal.

But Jo Stevens, a Labour supporter of the People’s Vote campaign, said: “Donald Trump’s administration has now made it clear just what it will be demanding from the UK in return for a trade deal – and one of those things is that we let big US companies run riot in the NHS.

“All of this is just more evidence of how the PM’s Brexit deal will deliver the exact opposite of what was promised.

“British consumers will lose their rights and protections and the NHS will be turned into a playpen for huge US corporate interests.”

Minette Batters, president of the National Farmers’ Union, said: “We should not accept trade deals that allow food to be imported into this country produced in ways which would be illegal here.”

And Tim Farron, the former Liberal Democrat leader and backer of the anti-Brexit Best for Britain group, said Michael Gove, the environment secretary, had promised farmers they would be protected.

“Now it’s clear that the US won’t allow that in a trade deal and wants to flood us with chlorine-washed chicken and hormone-pumped beef,” he added.

A spokesman for Liam Fox’s department for international trade “welcomed” the objectives, saying the UK’s would follow “in due course”.

“Negotiating an ambitious free trade agreement with the US that maintains our high standards for businesses, workers and consumers is a priority,” he added.