Will EU trade restrictions be lifted between the UK and our old Commonwealth partners upon exit from the EU?

Question

Will EU trade restrictions be lifted between the UK and our old Commonwealth partners upon exit from the EU??

This questions was asked as part of our webinar on ‘What exporters need to know about Brexit in 2017’. You can find a recording of the webinar here:

https://opentoexport.com/webinars/what-exporters-need-to-know-about-brexit-in-2017/

Answer

hi Cliffe
thank you for your question. It is not really possible to know the answer to this at this moment in time as this relates to the government’s policy and strategy. It would make sense that the UK makes the most of its history with the Commonwealth to engage in trade agreements but what this means in practice remains to be seen.
Kind regards
Mathilde Murphy

Answer

hi Cliff
thank you for your question. It is not really possible to know the answer to this at this moment in time as this relates to the government’s policy and strategy. It would make sense that the UK makes the most of its history with the Commonwealth to engage in trade agreements but what this means in practice remains to be seen.
Kind regards
Mathilde Murphy

Answer

I can also support Mathilde’s answer to the question. In theory the UK’s relations with Commonwealth countries will not change after the UK’s departure from the EU, although UK companies will almost certainly lose access to any preferential duty rate arising from free trade agreements with countries which currently have trade agreements with the EU in Africa, Asia, Caribbean, Central America and elsewhere. Of course, the UK is likely to want to negotiate separate free trade agreements with any countries who are interested in negotiating with us. It is worth remembering that agreements may take some time to finalise, and the more countries we choose to negotiate with, the longer the process may take.

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