The International Trade Secretary said relations with President Joe Biden's administration so far have been positive and that striking an agreement will be a "big opportunity" for Brexit Britain.

       But she refused to put a deadline on discussions because it would give Washington "leverage". Ms Truss said: "They now have their full negotiating team up and running and, of course, the United Kingdom is absolutely ready to negotiate when the United States are. But we have lots of opportunities on the go, so we are using all our negotiating capacity.

       But, of course, the US is a big opportunity when they are ready to negotiate."

       Ms Truss has been in talks with her US counterpart Katherine Tai to hammer out the timetable for securing a free trade agreement.

       She also secured a major concession from the US earlier this year when it agreed to temporarily suspend punishing tariffs imposed on a range of UK exports in a tit for tat battle with the EU over aerospace subsidies.

       A Government source said: "Liz believes a trade policy focused on fastgrowing parts of the world is key to boosting exports. Her plan is to give businesses the support they need to seize the opportunities on offer."