UK’s trade deal with Japan likely to be signed next week October 12, 2020 The UK’s free trade agreement with Japan is reportedly set to be formally signed next week. The UK-Japan Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) , which is the first trade deal to be signed since Britain left the EU earlier this year, was agreed in principle last month. And the two countries are hoping to formally [...]
Liz Truss hails ‘productive’ fourth round of UK-US trade talks September 22, 2020 Trade secretary Liz Truss today said the UK and US had made “significant” progress in reaching a trade deal after wrapping up a “productive” fourth round of talks. Truss said the two sides exchanged their first tariff orders and held a series of detailed market access discussions during the round. The US and the UK [...]
Brexit: Prime Minister urges Tory MPs to back him over bill September 12, 2020 Boris Johnson pleaded for Conservative MPs to support his plans to override part of the Brexit Withdrawal Agreement in a Zoom call late on Friday. The Prime Minister told around 250 Tory MPs on the video call that the party must not return to “miserable squabbling” over Europe. He is hoping to pass an Internal [...]
UK strikes free trade agreement with Japan September 11, 2020 The UK has secured a free trade agreement with Japan that is set to increase trade with the country by an estimated £15.2bn. The UK-Japan Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement , which is the first trade deal to be signed since Britain left the EU earlier this year, was agreed in principle this morning. In a [...]
The World Trade Organisation must halt its march into irrelevance September 11, 2020 Even the World Trade Organization’s strongest advocates cannot deny that it is an organisation with serious problems. It is a body that has deep technical skills and a relatively simple purpose, to ensure international trade flows as smoothly, predictably and freely as possible. A steady rise in protectionism, diminishing respect for its rules and an [...]
UK-Canada trade deal back in focus as talks restart September 7, 2020 Hopes of securing a post-Brexit free trade deal with Canada were given a boost today after trade secretary Liz Truss announced the UK had kickstarted discussions. “Trade talks with Canada have commenced,” Truss wrote in a tweet. “The aim is to provide continuity for businesses by the end of the transition period. “Both the UK [...]
City figures brought in to advise on UK trade negotiations August 25, 2020 Some of the City of London’s most prominent business leaders have been drafted in by the government to consult on the UK’s ongoing trade negotiations. Leaders from companies such as EY, Barclays and HSBC will be members of the Department of International Trade’s newly formed trade advisory groups. The government is simultaneously negotiating trade deal [...]
Trade secretary Liz Truss under fire for personal think tank meetings August 20, 2020 Trade secretary Liz Truss is facing criticism after a series of meetings with a pro-hard Brexit think tank were removed from the public record and reclassified as personal discussions. Two meetings between Truss and the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) were originally logged in quarterly transparency data on the government’s website and described as discussions [...]
US mulls $3.1bn of new tariffs on UK and European goods June 24, 2020 The US is weighing up new tariffs on $3.1bn (£2.5bn) of exports from the UK, France, Germany and Spain as trade tensions between the Trump administration and Europe rise again. The US Trade Representative (USTR) wants to impose new tariffs on European exports including olives, beer, gin and trucks, while increasing duties on certain products [...]
Tory MPs call for trade bill overhaul amid fears over UK’s reliance on China May 14, 2020 Two dozen Tory MPs have called for a revamp of the UK’s trade bill amid concerns that Britain is too reliant on China for imports to critical national infrastructure. The group, which includes former Brexit secretary David Davis and party leader Iain Duncan Smith, today penned a letter to trade secretary Liz Truss urging the [...]