Boris Johnson acknowledged on Tuesday that a much-hoped for post-Brexit bilateral free trade deal with the US was low on President Joe Biden’s list of priorities, telling reporters: “Joe has a lot of fish to fry.” The comment was made as the UK Prime Minister was heading into his White House meeting with Biden after the UN General Assembly.

The UK is considering joining the free trade agreement between the US, Mexico and Canada, reported Sky News. Ministers are believed to be mulling the option, along with a possible series of smaller, sectoral deals with America on separate issues, as an alternative to a US-UK free-trade agreement (FTA), hopes for which have waned, according to government sources cited by the outlet.

Unlike his predecessor, former President Donald Trump, Joe Biden does not seem eager to pursue stand-alone trade deals, so sources are hopeful that expanding already existing agreements, like the one between the US, Mexico and Canada, known as USMCA, might prove more successful.

The USMCA agreement in July last year replaced the renegotiated North American Free Trade Agreement, after then-POTUS Trump offered a deal that he claimed was “rebalanced” and “works much better for North America”.