In April, President Obama visited London to lobby the nation to remain a member of the European Union. On Thursday Britons ignored his advice and voted to leave the EU. During Obama's remarks, he warned that if they made this choice, the UK would "move to the back of the queue" in future trade deals with the U.S.
Here's a transcript:
“And on that matter for example, I think it’s fair to say that maybe at some point down the line there might be a U.K.-U.S. trade agreement but it’s not going to happen anytime soon because our focus is in negotiating with a big block of the European Union to get a trade agreement done. And the U.K. is going to be in the back of the queue. Now because we do not have a special relationship, but because given the heavy lift on any trade agreement, us having access to a big market, with a lot of countries, rather than trying to do piecemeal trade agreements, is hugely inefficient.
Now, to the subject at hand, obviously, the United States is in a different hemisphere, different circumstances, has different sets of relationships with its neighbors then the U.K. does. But I can tell you this, if right now I’ve got access to a massive market for I sell 44 percent of my exports, and now I am thinking about leaving the organization that gives me access to that market, and that is responsible for millions of jobs in my country, and responsible for an enormous amount of commerce, and upon which a lot of businesses depend.”