LONDON: UK has got its way against the EU on negotiating, signing and ratifying trade deals from the end of March next year, so those agreed in time can go live on 1st January 2021. It cannot be underestimated how important this development is. It allows the UK to set up the grandfathering of the existing 34 EU FTAs – of which the likes of Switzerland, South Korea and Turkey are in the top 15 of our markets that account for 71.8% of all UK exports. That should mean a seamless switch from being inside the Customs Union to being outside it.
It also allows us to negotiate bespoke FTAs with other vital markets such as the US (13.1% of total UK exports), China & Hong Kong (6.9%), the United Arab Emirates (2.1%) and Japan (1.6%). These will be the priority along with India, Brazil and Australasia – out of the 105 countries that have signalled they would like to establish a new trade deal. The reason this EU concession matters is that while bi-lateral trade deals are not a prerequisite for bountiful trade there is for instance, no FTA with our largest market, the US – they do help eliminate tariffs and regulations that can unlock exponential economic growth that benefits both partners. Trade negotiations can now be set up to start from next April and go live after Hogmanay 2020.
