House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) is calling for the U.S. to pursue a free trade agreement with the UK in light of the nation’s exit from the European Union. 

“We would probably want to put together our own trade agreement with Great Britain, which would be easier to do actually,” Ryan told WBEL’s Mike Daly on Sunday. We’re in talks with Europe on something we call [the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership] TTIP, but I think we should do a parallel track of Great Britain — United Kingdom, excuse me — United Kingdom trade agreement while we talk with Europe about TTIP.”

According to Ryan, “It’s very important that we maintain our very strong alliance with England. They are a special relationship — [a] very, very indispensable ally. Trade with England is very big between our two countries and very beneficial for our two countries, not like some of the other countries we’ve had problems with … you would not put England in that kind of category. … I think we should make sure that our trading relationship is stable, so that our respective economies are not affected but actually improved.”

Ryan’s comments came days after UK voted to leave the European Union, in a move called “Brexit.” The UK’s top export partner in 2014 was the United States, but its top import partner was Germany, with the U.S. sending less than half of what Germany did. Germany is Europe’s most powerful economy, and the fourth largest in the world.

England and Wales voted to leave the EU. However, other parts of the United Kingdom — Scotland, Northern Ireland and Gibraltar (a dependent territory of the UK) — voted to stay in the EU, which could create other problems for the world’s fifth-largest economy. The pound fell after the vote, then strengthened, as did stock markets, though a great deal of uncertainty is expected as negotiations for the exit take place.

Many British leaders were askance at Brexit, which was largely split by age and education levels — younger and more educated voters decided to stay in the EU, while older and less formally educated voters voted to leave — including Prime Minister David Cameron, who resigned after failing to prevent Brexit. One leader who cheered was Nigel Farage, the head of the Independence Party and a Member of Parliament. He told European Union representatives that they should not punish the UK for leaving, but instead work to keep tariffs low and keep trade going between the regional group and the exiting country.

As for America, Ryan told Mike Gousha on WISN on Sunday that the world’s number-one economy should “emphasize that they are our indispensable ally, we have a special relationship, and I think that does mean we should have a trade agreement with England — with Great Britain.”