Governor Cox signs trade cooperation agreement with Great Britain

Utah has become the fifth state in America to sign an agreement with Great Britain over strengthening trade ties.

While on a recent trade trip to Europe, Gov. Spencer J. Cox met with the United Kingdom’s trade minister Nigel Huddleston to sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to boost trade and investment between the U.K. and the state.

“We have an excellent working relationship with the British consulate in Los Angeles and our counterparts in the U.K.,” Cox said. “This agreement will lead to a broader exchange of best practices, government-led missions, private-sector partnerships, academic cooperation and capital investment, and we look forward to the increased collaboration.”

The U.K.-Utah MoU is the first to prioritize fintech as well as aerospace, supply chain resilience and life sciences, a release from the governor’s office said. The memorandum is the fifth such arrangement between the U.K. and a U.S. state and marks a milestone in the U.K. trade ties with Utah. Currently, Britain has MoUs signed with the U.S. states of Indiana, North Carolina, South Carolina and Oklahoma. Britain has said it is in active negotiations with other states in the U.S., including Florida, Texas, Colorado and California, to sign trade agreements.

According to the Governor’s Office of Economic Opportunity, more than 10,700 Utahns are employed by U.K. subsidiaries and 38,330 Utah jobs are supported by exports to the United Kingdom. In 2022 alone, Utah exports to the U.K. exceeded $7 billion. The U.K. is Utah’s largest trading partner (in terms of exports from Utah to the U.K.).

“Our MoU with Utah builds on our existing strong relationship and unlocks new opportunities for British businesses, particularly those in the fintech sector in which Britain is a global leader,” said Huddleston. “The MoUs we have agreed with U.S. states are already helping U.K. businesses grow their commercial links across the Atlantic.”

Earlier in the trip, Cox also signed a letter of intent (LoI) with Pres. Renaud Muselier of France’s Region Sud. The LoI formalizes Utah’s relationship with Region Sud, an area that shares Utah’s interest in tourism and innovation. The LoI includes establishing a partnership between a natural park in Utah and a natural park in Region Sud to exchange best practices in tourism. Both Utah and France also agreed to explore collaboration in new technologies, innovation and healthcare.

Rio Tinto, owner of Utah’s Kennecott Copper operations, is headquartered in the U.K. and welcomes the new trade deal.

“With Rio Tinto’s headquarters in the U.K. and the operational excellence of our 120-year-old Kennecott mining operations in Utah, our success stands as a testament to the longstanding and close relations between the U.K. and Utah,” said Clayton Walker, chief operations officer of Rio Tinto Copper. “We are excited to see this relationship strengthening through the signing of this MoU, as we continue to find better ways to provide the critical minerals that the world needs to make our modern everyday life possible.”