UK Seals the Deal with Japan in Post-Brexit Trade Deal

The talks with the EU have not collapsed yet and discussions are set to resume on Monday in Brussels.

Though the UK left the bloc on January 31, it is in a transition period that effectively sees it benefit from tariff-free trade until the end of this year.

The discussions are about agreeing on the broad outlines of the trading relationship from the start of 2021.

Concerns over a post-Brexit trade deal have heightened in the past few days since the British government said that new legislation breaches parts of the withdrawal agreement, which allowed for the country’s smooth departure from the bloc.

The diplomatic shockwaves from the British announcement could derail any hopes Prime Minister Boris Johnson may have of negotiating a US trade deal.

The House of Representatives speaker, Nancy Pelosi, warned the British government that there will be “absolutely no chance” of a trade deal if the UK violates its international obligations as they apply to the peace process in Northern Ireland.

Congress has to ratify all US trade deals.

Even before the current standoff, the trade discussions with the EU had made little progress, with the two sides wide apart on business regulations, the extent to which the UK can support certain industries and over the EU fishing fleet’s access to British waters.

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The renewed Brexit uncertainties come as the British economy gradually recovers from a deep recession caused by the shutdown of businesses during the coronavirus pandemic.

The Office for National Statistics said the economy grew by a month-on-month rate of 6.6 percent in July as many sectors, including pubs and restaurants, started reopening.

Despite the increase, the economy remains 11.7 percent smaller than it was in February.

Read also: UK Public Debt Exceeds £2 Trillion as Pandemic Strains National Economy

The looming end of a salary-support scheme that will likely see unemployment rise and the heightened Brexit uncertainties are expected to weigh on growth in the months ahead.

Former Labour prime minister, Gordon Brown, urged the government to provide more support for those likely to be unemployed after the end of the Job Retention Scheme in October and to avoid a “huge act of self-harm” in its discussions with the EU.

“We've got a cliff-edge on the furlough scheme on October 31 and we've now got a cliff-edge on Brexit,” he told BBC radio. 

(Writer: Pan Pylas) 

Source: https://apnews.com/c90c6399b524253a8a7ea7db6a7dd12f