The government must "stand up" for British farming in any trade talks with the "aggressive" Trump administration, the UK's farming unions have urged.
Their stark warning comes amid reports of a potential trade deal to avoid reciprocal tariffs from 2 April, the day a number of US tariffs on trade come into force.
The US has long pushed for greater access to the UK’s agricultural market and to see Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) measures removed to enable the import of produce which would be illegal to produce in the UK.
Hormone treated beef, and pork or chicken treated with anti-microbial washes, are banned practices in the UK and European Union, but allowed in the United States.
The farming unions, which include the NFU, NFU Scotland, NFU Cymru and Ulster Farmers' Union, said they were "extremely concerned" over any urgent trade deal to avoid President Donald Trump's tariffs.
The warning comes as farmers and growers across the country have been let down by previous governments with recent post-Brexit trade deals.
The Australia and New Zealand deals liberalised the UK’s most sensitive agricultural markets, with not much in return for farmers to benefit.
Meanwhile, in the case of the CPTPP, the previous government granted additional market access for eggs to countries which have lower animal welfare standards than the UK.
However, the Labour government has repeatedly promised that it would not repeat the mistakes of past trade deals.
At the NFU’s conference in February, Defra Secretary Steve Reed said the government would "never lower our food standards in trade agreements".
"British farming deserves a level playing field where you can compete and win and that is what you’ll get," he told farmers at the event.
"We will use the full range of powers at our disposal to protect our most sensitive sectors.”
However, the UK farming unions are now asking the government to honour these commitments, as UK negotiators could be on the "back foot from the get-go".
In a joint statement, they said: “It’s extremely concerning to see media reports that the UK government is trying to avoid US tariffs by seeking an urgent trade deal.
"While we do not want to see tariffs on UK agri-food going into the US, our second largest export market beyond the EU, it means our negotiators are on the back foot from the get-go and makes a balanced negotiation difficult.
“With the farming sector already under huge strain, with confidence at an all-time low and investment dropping day by day, it cannot deal with another trade deal which sells out domestic food and farming."
The unions added that this would be the government's "first test" to see if it would do what it promised, or "roll over under pressure from an aggressive US administration."
“Absolutely no one wants to see hormone treated beef, or pork or chicken treated with anti-microbial washes – which are banned here in the UK – sold on our market," they said.
"Those ways of production were banned in the 80s and 90s for a reason. They don’t reflect our values and the farm to fork approach we are proud of in the UK."
