Is Putin Right? Will Brexit Drive U.K. Closer to the U.S.?

By Ted Claypoole

Winston Churchill famously described the Special Relationship between the United Kingdom and the United States, and, for much of the last century, close economic, intelligence and military ties between the nations have marked a bond between peoples and governments.

The recent UK vote to exit the European Union could drive a wedge between the island nation and its closest neighbors, but will it herald a new focus on North America? The Russians think so. A close Putin associate named Boris Titov celebrated the fact that Europe would be moving away from “the Anglo-Saxons” into a tighter Eurasian confederation. Does this mean that an Anglo-American bloc of UK, Canada and the U.S. will pull closer together?

The US is already the UK’s top export partner, and its second largest import supplier. If UK relationships with Germany, France and the Netherlands suffer from the Brexit, the UK will concentrate its focus West on the US and Canada. The US and UK share a common language, but they also speak a similar business language with a focus on Vehicles, Aircraft, Medical Equipment and Pharmaceuticals, and extraction products led by oil.

We believe this International business partnership will continue to develop, and that the Brexit may speed the pace of growth. Womble Carlyle’s alliance with Bond Dickenson gives us deep understanding into cities and businesses across the UK, developing contacts and understanding of business rules.  We see the opportunity for more business with Britain, even in the face of the Brexit.