Britain's International Trade Secretary Anne-Marie Trevelyan arrives in Downing Street for a cabinet meeting in central London on Oct 27, 2021 before the government's annual budget announcement. (DANIEL LEAL / AFP)

LONDON - Britain will seek to strengthen its trading relationship with the United States this week when trade minister Anne-Marie Trevelyan visits New York and Washington, but a full free-trade agreement remains a distant prospect.

Trevelyan will meet US Trade Representative Katherine Tai and US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo in Washington on Tuesday, and promote Britain at a meeting with investors in New York.

British trade minister Anne-Marie Trevelyan will meet US Trade Representative Katherine Tai and US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo in Washington on Tuesday, and promote Britain at a meeting with investors in New York

ALSO READ: UK, India to start free trade deal discussions later this year

That has forced Britain to take a different approach of pursuing smaller agreements to remove specific trade barriers, solve long-running trade disputes, and work together on world trade reform.

Trevelyan's visit, her first since becoming trade minister in September, will pursue that strategy, including a push to resolve a long-running dispute over steel and aluminium tariffs.

Former US president Donald Trump imposed 25 percent and 10 percent tariffs on steel and aluminium imports from the EU in 2018. The tariffs were withdrawn in October of this year, but they remain in place for Britain due to its exit from the EU.

READ MORE: Ardern: NZ secured 'historic' free trade deal with Britain

Officials in the United States and Britain last week rejected a report in the Financial Times that said talks on resolving the tariff row were stalled due to concerns about post-Brexit trade rules affecting Northern Ireland.