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Pelosi vows to block trade deal with Britain if no-deal Brexit happens

By Nicholas Sakelaris
Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., vowed to oppose a trade deal with Britain post-Brexit if it threatens the Good Friday agreement in Ireland. File Photo by Kevin Dietsch/UPI
Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., vowed to oppose a trade deal with Britain post-Brexit if it threatens the Good Friday agreement in Ireland. File Photo by Kevin Dietsch/UPI | License Photo

Aug. 14 (UPI) -- House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said she would oppose a new free trade deal with Britain if it undermines the Good Friday accord with Northern Ireland.

The Good Friday accord ended the decades-long conflict between Britain and Northern Ireland in 1998. Now, as Britain barrels toward a no-deal exit from the European Union, there's growing concern about what will happen to Northern Ireland.

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The Brexit deadline is Oct. 31 and Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said he will leave the EU with or without a deal. That would impose a hard border between Northern Ireland and Ireland, shattering the peace that has existed there for 21 years.

"The Good Friday agreement serves as the bedrock of peace in Northern Ireland and as a beacon of hope for the entire world," Pelosi said in a statement. "After centuries of conflict and bloodshed, the world has witnessed a miracle of reconciliation and progress made possible because of this transformative accord."

Pelosi, D-Calif, opposes a no-deal Brexit and promised to block any new trade deal with Britain if it jeopardizes the Good Friday deal.

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"If Brexit undermines the Good Friday accord, there will be no chance of a U.S.-U.K. trade agreement passing the Congress," Pelosi said. "The peace of the Good Friday Agreement is treasured by the American people and will be fiercely defended on a bicameral and bipartisan basis in the United States Congress."

Pelosi's statements contradict those of the Trump administration.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the United States will be at Britain's "doorstep, pen in hand" to sign a trade deal after Brexit. Pompeo made the statement standing next to Britain's new foreign secretary Dominic Raab.

U.S. national security adviser John Bolton said Tuesday that the United States would accelerate a trade deal after Brexit and he expects bipartisan support in Congress.

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