With UK trade relations unclear over Brexit, food standards are fast becoming a key test for public health in trade matters. On Feb 28, 2019, the US Trade Representative (USTR) published the US negotiating position on a post-Brexit US–UK trade deal.1USTR made clear that the UK must abandon the EU’s high food safety, animal welfare, and environmental protection standards as a condition for agreeing the kind of deal many Brexiteers desire.