Trump’s Trade Deals Are Too Nice To Foreign Censorship Regimes
The article discusses the Trump administration’s ongoing negotiations for new trade deals, specifically focusing on the recent “U.S.-UK Economic Prosperity Deal.” While the deal aims to facilitate trade and economic cooperation between the U.S. and the U.K., it notably lacks any commitment from the U.K. to address issues of censorship and free speech. The piece highlights concerns over the U.K.’s increasing authoritarianism, citing examples of legal actions against individuals for expressing opinions and the funding of organizations that aim to silence conservative voices. The author criticizes the trade agreement for not addressing these pressing issues and argues that the U.S. should use its economic influence to promote free speech globally, notably in countries like the U.K.,where such rights are under threat.
The Trump administration is busy at work negotiating new trade deals with foreign powers to secure better economic outcomes for Americans. But amid the flurry of these prospective agreements is an incredibly important subject that’s seemingly getting swept under the rug: censorship.
Last week, President Trump and U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer agreed to a new trade framework between their two countries. Titled, the “U.S.-UK Economic Prosperity Deal,” this unfinalized compact seeks to tackle issues such as existing trade barriers, the “quality and volume of mutually beneficial trade” between Washington and London, and ensuring a “fair, reciprocal, future-facing,” partnership “built on a shared vision of the challenges that face [both nations’] economies.”
What’s noticeably absent from the general terms of the proposed agreement, however, is any pledged commitment by the U.K. government to end its war on free speech.
As The Federalist’s Hayden Daniel recently observed, the United Kingdom, along with many of its European neighbors, has “succumbed to a wave of left-wing authoritarianism.” Whether it’s arresting a woman for inviting consensual talks outside of an abortion facility, imprisoning people “for silently praying,” or charging Brits for so-called online “hate speech,” London has been at the forefront of suppressing free speech on the European continent.
[READ: British PM Is Wrong, There Is No Free Speech In The UK]
But the U.K.’s infatuation with state-enforced censorship isn’t exclusive to its own people. In fact, the British government has a history of bankrolling efforts to silence American voices as well.
Until a few years ago, the U.K. government funded what is known as the Global Disinformation Index (GDI), a U.K.-based “disinformation” tracking organization that aims to blacklist and effectively cut off ad revenue to conservative-leaning news outlets, including The Federalist. As Victoria Marshall previously wrote in these pages, GDI’s “shadowy network of tracking groups labels the content on these independent news sites as disinformation so brands will not offer ads on their sites.”
The goal, as noted by Marshall, is “to financially hurt independent publications and ultimately prevent them from disseminating content.” Other non-leftist media outlets GDI’s 2022 “exclusion list” labeled as the “riskiest” pushers of alleged “disinformation” include The Daily Wire, RealClearPolitics, and The Blaze.
And yet, despite these egregious violations of Americans’ and Brits’ free speech, the proposed trade framework agreed to by Trump and Starmer doesn’t even reference the issue.
[RELATED: 80 Years After The Allies Won World War II, U.S. Taxpayers Are Funding European Authoritarianism]
It’s not as if the Trump administration isn’t aware of London’s anti-speech efforts.
In February, Trump, Vice President J.D. Vance, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio all acknowledged their concerns about the U.K.’s authoritarian practices when responding to a question on the topic from The Federalist’s Breccan Thies. The remarks came on the heels of a speech Vance gave at the Munich Security Conference, in which he openly criticized the U.K. and other European states for “retreat[ing] … from some of its most fundamental values.”
“In Britain, and across Europe, free speech, I fear, is in retreat,” Vance said.
As I previously wrote in these pages, America “has long been considered a champion for basic natural rights throughout the civilized world” and “has sought to use its reputation and influence to pressure foreign leaders to ensure such principles for their own peoples.” While abandoned under former President Joe Biden, the United States, under Trump’s leadership, has the opportunity to restore this commitment to free speech across the globe.
America’s economic power puts it in a unique position to compel U.S.-dependent countries like the U.K. to end their anti-speech crusades. It’s a point of leverage the administration should not hesitate to use to ensure free speech remains truly free.
Shawn Fleetwood is a staff writer for The Federalist and a graduate of the University of Mary Washington. He previously served as a state content writer for Convention of States Action and his work has been featured in numerous outlets, including RealClearPolitics, RealClearHealth, and Conservative Review. Follow him on Twitter @ShawnFleetwood
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