US envoy flags UK drug pricing, energy costs

The US ambassador to Britain told a business gala there are "areas of concern" about the UK economy that could impede further ties between the countries.

Warren Stephens said Wednesday that high energy costs and the UK's pricing on pharmaceuticals were holding back enterprise and investment, during a speech attended by British Trade Minister Chris Bryant.

Energy was singled out as the "chief obstacle" for deeper relations between the US and UK, with high costs threatening Britain's status as a "premier global economy." Stephens and President Donald Trump have both previously argued that Keir Starmer's Labour government should be allowing more drilling for North Sea oil and gas.

"Every business I meet, in every sector, complains to me that energy costs make the UK an expensive, and difficult, place to do business," Stephens told the British-American Business Gala Lunch at the Savoy hotel in London.

The UK was the first major country to agree a trade deal with the White House earlier in the year, after Trump imposed higher tariffs across the world. However, several parts of the deal remained subject to further negotiation, and the UK is still trying to seal an agreement on medicine pricing and pharmaceutical exports.