UK trade after Brexit

The public accounts committee said the government has failed to demonstrate the economic benefits of its post-Brexit trade deals and it was doubtful that the government would hit its target of ensuring that 80% of UK trade was covered by a free trade deal by the end of 2022.

The UK has signed just three new trade agreements since leaving the EU.

The agreement with Australia was signed in December 2021 and that with New Zealand in February 2022. These agreements are not yet in force, but the digital trade agreement with Singapore was signed in February 2022 and entered into force on 14th June 2022.

The UK Government has started trade agreement negotiations with:

Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP)

The CPTPP is a trade agreement between 11 countries: Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam. The UK applied to join in February 2021. Negotiations started in September 2021 and the Government says it hopes they will be concluded by the end of 2022.

United States
Negotiations started in May 2020. An agreement is hoped for by the government, but not expected soon.

India
There is no current trade agreement between the UK and India. Negotiations started on 17th January 2022.

Canada
There is an existing trade agreement with Canada which largely replicates that which Canada has with the EU. Negotiations for a new UK-Canada trade agreement were launched in March 2022.

Mexico
Negotiations were launched in May 2022 to update the existing UK-Mexico trade agreement. This largely replicates the agreement Mexico has with the EU.

Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC)
The GCC represents six states (Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE). The UK currently does not have a free trade agreement with any of these countries. Negotiations started in June 2022.

The UK is preparing for free trade agreement negotiations with:

Israel
Negotiations expected to start later in 2022.

Switzerland
In April 2022, the Government launched a consultation on a new trade agreement with Switzerland, to update the existing FTA which largely replicates the EU-Switzerland agreement.

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