UK finance minister says securing US trade deal will not be easy

LONDON, March 4 (Reuters) - British finance minister Rachel Reeves said on Tuesday that securing a trade deal with the United States government would not be easy but that there was good reason to be hopeful.

"I think there's every reason to be hopeful about coming to some sort of a trade deal," Reeves said at a conference hosted by the Make UK manufacturing industry body.

"I'm not naive. This is not going to be an easy thing to secure for reasons that we all understand. There will have to be give and take on both sides. We absolutely recognise that, but I do think there's a big opportunity here."