Trade agreements of the United Kingdom

The United Kingdom is an active international actor in trade, as such, the UK started negotiations on several free trade agreements to remove or reduce tariff and non-tariff barriers to trade, both to establish new agreements and to replace previous EU trade agreements. As of December 2020, the United Kingdom has concluded two new trade agreements with Japan, and its biggest trading partner, the EU, agreed 32 trade continuity agreements and has other negotiations in progress, notably to join the CPTPP. The current Johnson administration describes itself as a proponent of free trade.[1][2]

UK trade agreements
  United Kingdom, overseas territories and crown dependencies
  Agreement applied from early 2021
  Agreement being negotiated

The UK's negotiating team will consult with its Strategic Trade Advisory Group throughout the negotiations.[3]

Competence & ratification process

According to UK law the United Kingdom Parliament has the power to pass law in all policy areas.[4]

Competence within the United Kingdom

The United Kingdom Government has reserved powers over matters regarding international trade and agreements as well as the right and power to legislate over any matter due to parliamentary sovereignty. However United Kingdom Government will normally seek a consent motion from the Devolved Parliament (s) when areas within Agreement (s) collide with matters of devolved competence regardless of their ability to legislate.

Ratification

The responsibility for concluding treaties involving the UK lies with the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs. This remains the case even when the negotiation of the treaty is led by another government department.[5]

The FCO's Legal Advisers and Treaty Section:

  • must be given the opportunity to comment on the drafts of all treaties under negotiation
  • will advise on the form and substance of the treaty, though not substance which is technical and of which the other government department is the expert
  • will advise on related matters such as the production of Full Powers and Instruments of Ratification]]
  • will produce original signature copies of treaties and advise on the treaty signing ceremony
  • will arrange for the treaty to be published and laid before Parliament;

is responsible for the registration of these treaties with the UN, allowing their subsequent publication in the United Nations Treaty Series

  • will transfer of the treaties to the National Archives for preservation[5]

Unless expressly authorised to do so by HMG in the UK, Crown Dependencies and Overseas Territories do not have the authority to become a party to treaties in their own right. The UK must extend the territorial scope of its ratification of treaties to include them. This is normally done either at the time of ratification, or at some later date.[5]

Obsolete Agreements

Norway and Iceland

During the Brexit negotiations between the EU and the UK, there was some concern that agreement on terms for withdrawal would not be reached, and that the UK would leave the EU precipitously without any agreement (the original no-deal Brexit scenario). With this outcome a possibility, the UK secured a goods-only trade agreement with Norway and Iceland, that would only be valid in the outcome of a No Deal exit from the EU. As the UK did agree terms and go on to ratify the Brexit withdrawal agreement in November 2019 and leaving the EU at the end of January 2020, this agreement became obsolete and so will not come into effect.

Signed agreements

As of 29 December 2020, the UK had secured 36 trade agreements[6] with 93 countries, some through the use of a mutatis mutandis concept, in order to quickly replicate the existing agreements between the EU and these countries, only having to call out those minor areas of differentiation (this allowed some agreements to be reduced to around 40 pages from the original around 1400). Among them are significant economies — by nominal GDP — such as South Korea, Switzerland, Israel and South Africa.

Most of these treaties have not formally entered into force on 1 January 2021.[7] However, for many these treaties will be provisionally applied, or through a "bridging mechanism" (exchange of diplomatic notes verbale etc) continuity is achieved.[7]

No Nation (s) No of nations
represented		 Signed Effective Treaty number Citation Trade value (2019)
1. Albania 1 5 February 2021[8] not effective[7] Albania 1 (2021) £158m ($216.8m)
2. Andean Community

Colombia (bridging mechanism), Ecuador and Peru (bridging mechanism)

 3 15 May 20191 January 2021Misc 22 (2019) [9][10] £2.9bn

($3.97bn)

3. Cameroon 1 30 December 20201 January 2021 (provisional application)[7] Cameroon No.1 (2020) [11] £200m

($273.46m)

4. Canada 1 9 December 2020Expected to come into effect in early 2021[7] Canada 1 (2020) [12][13] £22.4bn

($30.63bn)

5. CARIFORUM (except Suriname)[14] (Trade Bloc)
 15 22 March 20191 January 2021 (provisional application)[7]Misc 18 (2019) [15] £3.24bn

($4.43bn)

6. Central America 6 18 July 20191 January 2021Misc 32 (2019) [16][17] £1.44bn

($1.97bn)

7. Chile 1 30 January 20191 January 2021Misc 2 (2019) [18] £2.1bn

($2.87bn)

8. Cote d'Ivoire 1 15 October 20201 January 2021 [19] £401m

($548.29m)

9. Eastern and Southern Africa (ESA) (Trade Bloc)[20] 3 31 January 20191 January 2021Misc 4 (2019) [21] £1.63bn

($2.23bn)

10. Egypt 1 5 December 20201 January 2021
(provisional application)		 Egypt No.1 (2020) [22][7] £3.5bn

($4.79bn)

11. European Union (Trade Bloc) - (TCA) 27 30 December 20201 January 2021
(provisional application)		 [23][24] £660bn

($902.42bn)

12. Faroe Islands 1 31 January 20191 January 2021Denmark 1 (2019) [25] £295m

($403.35m)

13. Georgia 1 21 October 20191 January 2021Georgia 1 (2019) [26] £178m

($243.38m)

14. Ghana 1 5 February 2021[27] not in force[7] £1.2bn ($1.64bn)
15. Israel 1 18 February 20191 January 2021Israel 1 (2019) [28] £5.13bn

($7.01bn)

16. Japan - (UK - Japan CEPA) 1 23 October 20201 January 2021 Japan No.1 (2020) [29] £31.6bn

($43.21bn)

17. Jordan 1 5 November 2019Expected to come into effect in early 2021[7]Jordan 1 (2019) [30] £534m

($730.14m)

18. Kenya 1 3 November 20201 January 2021 Kenya No. 1 (2020) [31] £1.4bn

($1.91bn)

19. Kosovo 1 3 December 20191 January 2021Kosovo 1 (2019) [32] £9m

($12.31m)

20. Lebanon 1 19 September 20191 January 2021Lebanon 1 (2019) [33] £820m

($1.19bn)

21. Liechtenstein 1 11 February 20191 January 2021Liechtenstein 1 (2019) [34] £122m

($1.67m)

22. Mexico 1 15 December 2020Expected to come into effect in early 2021. Mexico 1 (2020) [35][7] £5 bn

($6.84bn)

23. Moldova 1 24 December 2020 1 January 2021 [36] £395m

($540.08m)

24. Morocco 1 26 October 20191 January 2021Morocco 1 (2019) [37] £2.5bn

($3.42bn)

25. North Macedonia 1 3 December 20201 January 2021 (provisional application)[7] [38] £1.8bn

($2.46bn)

26. Norway and Iceland 2 8 December 2020 1 January 2021 MS No.8/2020 [39][40][41][42] £26.7bn

($36.51bn)

27. Pacific States (Fiji and Papua New Guinea) 2 14 March 20191 January 2021Misc 15 (2019) [43] £178m

($243.38m)

28. Palestine Authority 1 18 February 20191 January 2021Misc 14 (2019) [44] £11m

($ 5.04m)

29. Singapore 1 10 December 20201 January 2021 (provisional application)Singapore 1 (2020) [45] £17.6bn

($24.06bn)

30. South Korea 1 22 August 20191 January 2021Korea 1 (2019) [46] £11.7bn

($16.00bn)

31. Southern African Customs Union and Mozambique
(SACUM) (Trade Bloc)		 6 9 October 20191 January 2021Misc 34 (2019) [47] £12.12bn

($16.57bn)

32. Switzerland 1 11 February 20191 January 2021Switzerland 4 (2019) [48] £38.58bn
33. Tunisia 1 4 October 20191 January 2021Tunisia 1 (2019) [49] £611m

($835.42m)

34. Turkey 1 29 December 20201 January 2021 (provisional application)[7] [50] £18.6bn

($25.43bn)

35. Ukraine 1 8 October 20201 January 2021 Ukraine No.1 (2020) [51] £1.53bn

($2.09bn)

36. Vietnam 1 10 December 20201 January 2021 (provisional application)[7] Vietnam No.1 (2020) [52] £5.7bn

($7.79bn)

Total no of countries or territories the UK has trade deals with 92 Total value of trade deals signed £897bn ($123bn)

65% of total trade

Signed agreements that are being joined by new countries
No Nation (s) Trade agreement being joined Status Citation
1. Samoa and the Solomon Islands Pacific States Provisionally applied pending ratification [53][54]
2. Angola Southern African Customs Union and Mozambique

(SACUM) (Trade Bloc)

 [55]

Mutual recognition agreements

Mutual recognition in relation to Conformity assessment, Certificates and Markings

No Nation (s) Signed Citation (s)
1 Australia January 18, 2019 [56]
2 New Zealand January 21, 2019 [57]
3 United States of America February 14, 2019 [58]

Agreements being negotiated
No Nation (s) Citation (s) Status Dedicated page Comment
1. Australia 1 [59] negotiations set to continue in spring 2021 UK–Australia FTA Third round of negotiations took place between 23 November 2020 - 4 December 2020[60] with fourth round likely to take place in late February 2021 [61]
2. CPTTP 11 [62] applied for membership UK CPTTP FTA Accession Applied in February 2021, with formal negotiations starting later in the year
3. European Free Trade Area (part) (Norway, Iceland & Liechtenstein) 3 Negotiations Ongoing Negotiations formally commenced between the UK and the EFTA nations that are members of the European Economic Area (EEA) (Norway, Iceland & Liechtenstein but not Switzerland) on 20 July 2020. The aim and intention from all parties is to conclude the core trade aspect of the negotiations swiftly so that it can be in place for the end of the EU transition period on 1 January 2021.However, the intention is also to conclude multiple other agreements in parallel to this and stretching further into 2021.
4. India 1 [63] Negotiations Ongoing The United Kingdom and India are negotiating an “early harvest agreement” that both nations hope to concluded by 2021.


The two nations will then seek to negotiate a more comprehensive free trade agreement.

5. New Zealand 1 [64] Negotiations Ongoing UK–New Zealand FTA Third round of negotiations started in January 2021.
6. United States of America 1 [65] Negotiations Ongoing UK–US FTA Fourth round of negotiations took place in September 2020. Agreement is not expected in 2020.[66]

EU (continuity) agreements being negotiated

Free trade agreements of the European Union help the EU growth: In 2019, the EU-27 was the second global good exporter (15,2%) before the USA (10,6%) but after China (16,4%), it is the first global trader of goods and services (16.2%) ahead of the USA (13.7%) and China (13%).[67]

No Nation (s) Agreement Status Reported Progress Made
1 Algeria Discussions Ongoing
2 Bosnia and Herzegovina (Western Balkans) Discussions Ongoing
3 East African Community (EAC) Discussions Ongoing
4 Montenegro (Western Balkans) Discussions Ongoing
5 Serbia (Western Balkans) Discussions Ongoing

Agreements at pre - negotiation stage
No Nation (s) Number of nations

represented

 Citation Status Comments
1. Bangladesh 1 [68] Pre-negotiations
2. GCC 6 Pre-negotiations
4. Mercosur 4 [69] Pre-negotiations
5. Taiwan 1 Pre-negotiations
5. India 1 [70] Pre-negotiations Negotiations likely to start in 2021

UK top 10 trading partners


Export and import markets for goods and services 1 in 2019, not seasonally adjusted
Exports Imports
Rank Trade Partner Billion
Pounds		 % of Total Rank Trade Partner Billion
Pounds		 Total Export
1 United States[lower-alpha 1] 138.7 19.9% 1 United States 91.6 12.6%
2 Germany (EU member) 58.6 8.4% 2 Germany (EU member) 78.0 10.8%
3 France (EU member) 42.8 6.1% 3 Netherlands (EU member) 51.1 7.1%
4 Netherlands (EU member) 42.8 6.1% 4 China 49.0 6.8%
5 Ireland (EU member) 38.3 5.5% 5 France (EU member) 47.5 6.6%
6 China 31.4 4.5% 6 Spain (EU member) 34.1 4.7%
7 Switzerland (EFTA member) 25.0 3.6% 7 Belgium (EU member) 28.6 3.9%
8 Italy (EU member) 21.4 3.1% 8 Italy (EU member) 26.6 3.7%
9 Spain (EU member) 19.3 2.8% 9 Ireland (EU member) 24.5 3.4%
10 Belgium (EU member) 18.5 2.6% 10 Norway (EFTA member) 17.8 2.5%
EU 300.3 43.0% EU 372.2 51.4%
Non EU 398.3 57.0% Non EU 352.3 48.6%
World 698.6 100% World 724.5 100%
Historically, WTO imports and exports are based on the rule of origin, while EU imports/exports are based on single market statistics

The figures above cover up to 2019 only.[71]

See also

Notes
  1. including Puerto Rico

References
  1. "Post-Brexit Britain to be 'champions of free trade', Dominic Raab says". ITV News. February 7, 2020.
  2. Fox, Liam (January 23, 2019). "Global Britain and the economy". Gov.UK.
  3. Fox, Liam (June 6, 2019). "First meeting of government trade advisory group". Gov.U.K.
  4. "Election 2019: A short guide to devolution in the UK". BBC News. November 13, 2019.
  5. "UK Treaties". GOV.UK. Retrieved 11 December 2020. Text was copied from this source, which is available under an Open Government Licence v3.0. © Crown copyright.
  6. "UK and Mexico sign trade deal". Gov UK. December 15, 2020.
  7. "Guidance. Existing UK trade agreements with non-EU countries". UK.
  8. "UK and Albania sign Agreement to deepen economic relationship and political efforts to tackle serious organised crime". UK government. 5 February 2021. Retrieved 6 February 2021.
  9. Hollingbery, George (May 15, 2019). "UK signs trade continuity agreement with Colombia, Ecuador and Peru". Gov.UK.UK–Andean FTA
  10. "Trade Agreement between the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, of the one part, and the Republic of Colombia, the Republic of Ecuador and the Republic of Peru, of the other part". FCO, UK. Retrieved 25 December 2020.
  11. "United Kingdom and Cameroon secure Economic Partnership Agreement '". Gov UK. 30 December 2020. Retrieved 30 December 2020.
  12. "UK secures vital rollover trade deal with Canada and agrees to start negotiating more advanced deal next year '". Uk.Gov. 22 November 2020. Retrieved 22 November 2020.
  13. "Agreement on Trade Continuity between the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and Canada". FCO, UK. Retrieved 25 December 2020.
  14. "Guidance. Trade with the CARIFORUM States from 1 January 2021". UK Government. Retrieved 29 December 2020.
  15. Hollingbery, George (22 March 2019). "UK signs trade continuity agreement with Caribbean countries". Gov.UK.UK–CARIFORUM FTA
  16. "UK and Central America sign continuity agreement". Gov.UK. July 18, 2019.UK–Central America FTA
  17. "Economic Partnership Agreement between the CARIFORUM States, of the one part, and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, of the other part". FCO, UK. Retrieved 25 December 2020.
  18. Fox, Liam (January 30, 2019). "UK and Chile sign continuity agreement". Gov.UK.UK–Chile FTA
  19. "Exporting to Cote d'Ivoire from 1 January 2021". GOV.UK.
  20. Including Mauritius, Seychelles and Zimbabwe
  21. Hollingbery, George (January 31, 2019). "UK signs Eastern and Southern Africa trade continuity agreement". Gov.UK.UK–ESA FTA
  22. "UK and Egypt sign Association Agreement'". Voice of America. 5 December 2020. Retrieved 5 December 2020.
  23. "UK and EU agree Brexit trade deal". U.K. Government. 24 December 2020.
  24. "Brexit: Landmark UK-EU trade deal to be signed". BBC. 29 December 2020.
  25. Eustace, George (February 1, 2019). "UK and Faroe Islands sign trade continuity agreement". Gov.UK.UK–Faroe Islands (Denmark) FTA
  26. Truss, Elizabeth (October 21, 2019). "UK and Georgia sign trade continuity and strategic cooperation agreement". Gov.UK.UK–Georgia FTA
  27. "Ghana-UK Joint Statement: Ghana-UK Trade Partnership Agreement". UK Government. 4 February 2021. Text "access-date-6 February 2021" ignored (help)
  28. Fox, Liam (February 18, 2019). "UK and Israel sign trade continuity agreement". Gov.UK.UK–Israel FTA
  29. "UK and Japan sign free trade agreement". GOV.UK.
  30. Chaplin, Chloe (27 January 2020). "Brexit trade deals: the agreements in place already, from Chile to the Faroe Islands". INews.com.UK–Jordan FTA
  31. "UK and Kenya secure a trade agreement". GOV.UK.
  32. "UK–Kosovo FTA" (PDF).
  33. Burns, Conor (September 19, 2019). "UK and Lebanon sign trade continuity agreement". Gov.UK.UK–Lebanon FTA
  34. "UK/Liechtenstein: Additional Agreement extending certain provisions of UK/Swiss Trade Agreement to Liechtenstein [CS Liechtenstein No.1/2019]". GOV.UK.
  35. "UK and Mexico sign trade deal'". Gov UK. 15 December 2020. Retrieved 15 December 2020.
  36. (1) Morton (2) Jayawardena, (1) Wendy (2) Ranil (24 December 2020). "UK and Moldova sign Strategic Partnership, Trade and Cooperation Agreement". Gov.UK.
  37. Burns, Conor (October 26, 2019). "UK and Morocco sign continuity agreement". Gov.UK.UK–Morocco FTA
  38. "North Macedonia and UK sign Partnership, Trade and Cooperation Agreement". Gov.UK. December 3, 2020.
  39. "Agreement on trade in goods between Iceland, Norway and the UK". GOV.UK. Retrieved 2020-12-26.
  40. "Trade with Iceland and Norway from 1 January 2021". GOV.UK. Retrieved 2020-12-26.
  41. fiskeridepartementet, Nærings-og (2020-07-21). "Storbritannia - frihandelsavtale". Regjeringen.no (in Norwegian). Retrieved 2020-12-26.
  42. https://www.regjeringen.no/contentassets/61749649e4f44d7fa8f953969feda5a6/agreement-on-trade-in-goods-between-iceland-norway-and-the-united-kingdom-for-signature_.pdf
  43. "UK and Pacific Islands sign trade continuity agreement". Gov.UK. March 14, 2019. UK–Pacific States FTA
  44. "UK and Palestinian Authority sign trade continuity agreement". Gov.UK. February 18, 2019.UK–Palatine Authority FTA
  45. "Singapore, United Kingdom sign free trade agreement". CNA. December 10, 2020.
  46. Truss, Elizabeth (August 21, 2019). "UK and Korea to sign trade continuity deal to ensure businesses are ready to trade post-Brexit". Gov.UK.UK–South Korea FTA
  47. Truss, Elizabeth (September 11, 2019). "UK agreed trade continuity with 6 African nations". Gov.UK.UK -SACU & Mozambique FTA
  48. Fox, Liam (February 11, 2019). "UK and Switzerland sign trade continuity agreement". Gov.UK. UK–Switzerland FTA
  49. Burns, Conor (October 4, 2019). "UK and Tunisia sign continuity agreement". Gov.UK.UK–Tunisia FTA
  50. "UK and Turkey to sign free trade deal this week". Financial Times. 27 December 2020.
  51. "Britain, Ukraine Sign 'Strategic Partnership Agreement'". Voice of America. 8 October 2020. Retrieved 10 November 2020.
  52. "UK strikes Singapore and Vietnam trade deals, start of new era of trade with Asia '". Gov UK. 10 December 2020. Retrieved 10 December 2020.
  53. "Memorandum of Understanding between the UK and Samoa". Gov.UK. December 30, 2020.
  54. "Memorandum of Understanding between the UK and the Solomon Islands". Gov.UK. December 30, 2020.
  55. "Brexit trade deals on the table at UK-Africa summit -". African Business Magazine. 2020-01-17. Retrieved 2020-08-20.
  56. "UK and Australia agree continuity of Mutual Recognition Agreement". Gov.UK. January 18, 2019. UK–Australia MRA
  57. Fox, Liam (January 22, 2019). "UK and New Zealand to continue Mutual Recognition Agreement as PM Jacinda Ardern visits UK". Gov.UK. UK–New Zealand MRA
  58. "UK and USA agree to continue Mutual Recognition Agreement". Gov.UK. February 14, 2019. UK–USA MRA
  59. Leeuwen, Hans van (17 June 2020). "Australia kicks off talks for trade deal with post-Brexit Britain". Financial Review.
  60. "Negotiations on the UK's Future Trading Relationship with Australia: Update". GOV.UK. Retrieved 2020-12-27.
  61. "Australia-United Kingdom FTA".
  62. "UK government formally announces application to join the CPTPP paper". Financial Times. January 30, 2021.
  63. Rajeev, Jayaswal (December 28, 2020). "India and UK to finalise early harvest trade deals by 2021, ahead of comprehensive FTA". Hindustan Times.
  64. McCullough, Yvette (June 17, 2020). "NZ begins free trade talks for 'comprehensive' deal with UK". Radio New Zealand.
  65. Truss, Elizabeth (May 5, 2020). "UK and US start trade negotiations". Gov.UK.
  66. Fox, Benjamin (July 24, 2020). "UK and Norway to open trade pact talks amid warnings of new trade barriers".
  67. "World Trade Statistical Review 2020 | Statistics | WTO". World Trade Oranization. October 19, 2020.
  68. "Bangladesh needs free trade agreement with the UK". The Daily Star. Dhaka. 20 August 2020.
  69. Viga Gaier, Rodrigo; Teixeira, Marcelo; Maler, Sandra (31 January 2020). "Brazil to seek a Mercosur-UK trade deal similar of agreement with EU". Reuters.
  70. "Raab on UK making future trade deal with India and neighbours". BBC. December 2020.
  71. "Trade and Investment Core Statistics Book" (PDF). Gov.UK. May 20, 2020.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.