The news broke like a thunderclap over the Atlantic: Donald Trump, the man who turned trade into a battlefield, now sees 'better relations' with Colombia. For British diplomats, this is a quiet victory. For workers in the North of England, it is a reminder that the real economy runs on more than handshakes and photo ops.
This week, Whitehall sources confirmed that the US-Colombia thaw could accelerate UK trade talks with Bogotá. The logic is simple. If Washington opens its doors to Colombian goods, London can piggyback on a friendlier hemisphere. The Department for Business and Trade has been pushing a 'Global Britain' narrative since Brexit. Latin America, with its growing middle class and appetite for British services, is a prize. Colombia alone imports £500 million worth of UK goods from whisky to machinery. A post-Brexit trade deal could double that, they say.
But let me tell you what this looks like from a kitchen table in Barnsley. For decades, my town has watched its manufacturing base hollow out. Trade deals were sold as the cure. Instead, we got zero-hour contracts and wage stagnation. The Colombia deal is not yet signed. The government promises safeguards for workers' rights and the environment. But I have heard that before. When the Trade Union Congress analysed the UK's rollover trade agreements, they found that only half included enforceable labour standards. Colombia has a grim record on union murders. The International Trade Union Confederation lists it as one of the most dangerous countries for organisers. If we are to trade more, we must demand that every deal ties tariff reductions to protections for trade unionists. Otherwise, our cheap imports come at the cost of someone else's life.
There is also the question of what we export. The North of England makes things: steel, chemicals, advanced engineering. But our trade balance with Colombia is skewed. We sell services, they sell commodities. The price of Colombian coffee or flowers does not change the price of a loaf in Leeds. A broader deal could help our manufacturers, but only if the government invests in export support. The British Chambers of Commerce found that only one in ten manufacturing firms exports outside the EU. The barriers are not just tariffs: they are shipping costs, language, and bureaucracy. Trump's rapprochement will not fix that.
Yet, there is a sliver of opportunity. The US-Colombia rapprochement could put pressure on the UK to finalise its own deal quickly. The EU already has one. We are behind. But speed should not mean a race to the bottom. The best thing the UK can do is use this moment to set a gold standard: a trade deal that requires Colombia to comply with International Labour Organization conventions, that includes a robust mechanism for workers to complain, and that sets binding environmental standards. That would be real leadership.
For now, the Foreign Office is spinning a tale of advancing diplomacy. They point to the recent visit of the Colombian Vice President to London. They whisper about a new trade envoy for the region. But in the working men's clubs of the North, we remember the promises of the past. We remember that NAFTA, the US-Colombia deal, and even our own EU membership did not automatically lift wages. They only did so when workers had power. The real test of this 'advancing' trade diplomacy is not the headlines in the Financial Times. It is whether my neighbour in Sheffield gets a pay rise, whether the threat of a strike is taken seriously, and whether the price of a pint of milk stays stable.
So yes, Trump seeing better relations with Colombia is a news item. But for the real economy, the only headline that matters is whether this deal will be written with ink or with blood. The answer is not yet clear. But I will be watching. And I will be writing.
