America risks following Britain over the 'economic precipice', warns The Washington Post David Riley, managing director for sovereign ratings at Fitch Ratings, told the Washington Post that there would be no "free lunch" for America as it battles the headwinds generated by higher taxes and spending cuts, but added that the fiscal cliff could be avoided. "If we assume that the fiscal cliff is avoided, a gradual deficit reduction in our view could still be consistent with an economy recovery," he said. If the US follows the same path as Britain, it could end up in recession, anyway. Republicans and Democrats are currently working to strike a deal to avoid automatic tax-rises and spending cuts that could cost upwards of $600 billion, strangling America's still-nascent recovery. Last week, Republicans offered to increase tax rates on earners above $1m (£620,000), as talks with the White House continued over how to avoid America falling off the fiscal cliff. The offer was reportedly rejected as insufficient by Barack Obama who has said he is determined to raise rates earners above $250,000, but was read a sign that previously deadlocked fiscal cliff negotiations were gathering fresh impetus as the year-end deadline loomed. The tax offer by Republican House Speaker John Boehner, while falling short of Mr Obama's demands, comes as Republicans in the Senate put pressure on their colleagues in the House to come to a deal on taxes so that the debate can shift to the need for significant spending cuts. A series of opinion polls have shown that a two-thirds majority of the American public are favour of higher taxes on the well-off, a fact which Mr Obama has moved to capitalise upon by holding a series of public rallies to press his case.