London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Thursday, Oct 30, 2025

Brexit: What trade deals has the UK done so far?

Brexit: What trade deals has the UK done so far?

A UK-US trade deal could be many years away, Prime Minister Liz Truss has said, ahead of talks with US President Joe Biden.

Since Brexit, the UK has signed trade deals and agreements in principle with 69 countries and one with the EU.

However, the majority of these are simply "rollovers" - meaning they copied the terms of deals the UK previously had when it was an EU member, rather than creating new trading arrangements.


Will there be a US trade deal?


The US is a significant trading partner, accounting for 16% of total UK trade. Since Brexit, some small deals have been reached - such as lifting the ban on the export of British beef.

However, Mr Biden played down the chances of an imminent UK-US trade deal in 2021.

Ahead of her first meeting with the US President, Ms Truss admitted that she didn't expect negotiations to start "in the short to medium term".

Brexit supporters previously touted the prospect of a US-UK trade deal as a key benefit of leaving the EU.

Mr Biden previously played down the chances of a post-Brexit free trade deal between the US and UK


What is a free trade deal?


A free trade deal aims to encourage trade between countries by making it cheaper and simpler. It normally applies to the exchange of goods, but occasionally to services as well.

Making trade cheaper is usually achieved by reducing or eliminating tariffs. These are government taxes or charges for trading goods across borders. A car importer might have to pay a 20% tariff on top of the vehicle's price, for example, to bring it into a country.

Trade can also be made simpler if countries have the same rules, such as the colour of wires in plugs or food safety requirements. The closer the rules are, the less likely that goods need to be inspected.


Why have tariffs and quotas at all?


While free trade agreements aim to boost trade, too many cheap imports could threaten a country's own manufacturers. This could affect jobs.

For that reason, a government might choose to put tariffs on certain things. Tariffs on car imports, for example, could help protect local car makers from cheaper vehicles coming in from abroad.

The UK-Japan deal was signed in October 2020


What trade deals has the UK signed since Brexit?


Since it left the EU, the UK has had the freedom to pursue it own independent trade deals.

Most recently it signed a deal with New Zealand on 28 February 2022.

New Zealand is a small trading partner, accounting for less than 0.2% of the UK's GDP.

While the deal is unlikely to boost the UK economy by much, it could lead to more New Zealand lamb being sold in the UK.

British farmers are worried about competing with cheap foreign imports, such as beef


The Australia deal was the first trade agreement negotiated from scratch by the UK since it left the EU. UK farmers warned they could be undercut by cheap imports, which could cost jobs. However, the UK government insists the deal contains protections for the sector.

A deal with Japan was signed in October 2020. It was the first that differed from the existing EU trade deal.

An agreement with Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein was announced in June 2021 and builds on the previous agreement the UK had with these countries.

Talks with India began in early 2022, although no deal has yet been reached.

The UK has also applied to join an existing trade agreement between 11 Pacific Rim nations. The government hopes to become a member of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) by the end of 2022.


What happened to the trade agreements the UK was already part of?


Before Brexit, the UK was automatically part of any trade deal the EU had negotiated with another country. At the time the UK left, the EU had about 40 trade deals covering more than 70 countries.

The UK has negotiated rollover deals with 63 of these countries.


What is the UK-EU trade deal?


After Brexit happened on 31 January 2020, the UK and EU needed to decide the rules for their future trading relationship.

This was important because the EU is the UK's largest and closest trading partner.

After months of negotiation - which went down to the wire - a UK-EU trade deal came into force on 1 January 2021.

The deal prevented any tariffs and quotas being introduced - which would have made it more expensive to trade between the two partners.

The UK-EU trade deal went down to the wire, with fishing proving to be one of the major sticking points


But not everything is the same as it was before Brexit.

As the UK no longer has to follow EU rules on product standards, new checks have been introduced.

The deal also does not completely eliminate the possibility of tariffs in future. Both sides will need to stay close to shared rules in areas like workers' rights and environmental protection. If either the UK or the EU shift their rules too far, the other side could introduce tariffs.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
UK and Vietnam Sign Landmark Migration Deal to Fast-Track Returns of Irregular Arrivals
UK Drug-Pricing Overhaul Essential for Life-Sciences Ambition, Says GSK Chief
Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie Temporarily Leave the UK Amid Their Parents’ Royal Fallout
UK Weighs Early End to Oil and Gas Windfall Tax as Reeves Seeks Investment Commitments
UK Retail Inflation Slows as Shop Prices Fall for First Time Since Spring
Next Raises Full-Year Profit Guidance After Strong Third-Quarter Performance
Reform UK’s Lee Anderson Admits to 'Gaming' Benefits System While Advocating Crackdown
United States and South Korea Conclude Major Trade Accord Worth $350 Billion
Hurricane Melissa Strikes Cuba After Devastating Jamaica With Record Winds
Vice President Vance to Headline Turning Point USA Campus Event at Ole Miss
U.S. Targets Maritime Narco-Routes While Border Pressure to Mexico Remains Limited
Bill Gates at 70: “I Have a Real Fear of Artificial Intelligence – and Also Regret”
Elon Musk Unveils Grokipedia: An AI-Driven Alternative to Wikipedia
Saudi Arabia Unveils Vision for First-Ever "Sky Stadium" Suspended Over Desert Floor
Amazon Announces 14 000 Corporate Job Cuts as AI Investment Accelerates
UK Shop Prices Fall for First Time Since March, Food Leads the Decline
London Stock Exchange Group ADR (LNSTY) Earns Zacks Rank #1 Upgrade on Rising Earnings Outlook
Soap legend Tony Adams, long-time star of Crossroads, dies at 84
Rachel Reeves Signals Tax Increases Ahead of November Budget Amid £20-50 Billion Fiscal Gap
NatWest Past Gains of 314% Spotlight Opportunity — But Some Key Risks Remain
UK Launches ‘Golden Age’ of Nuclear with £38 Billion Sizewell C Approval
UK Announces £1.08 Billion Budget for Offshore Wind Auction to Boost 2030 Capacity
UK Seeks Steel Alliance with EU and US to Counter China’s Over-Capacity
UK Struggles to Balance China as Both Strategic Threat and Valued Trading Partner
Argentina’s Markets Surge as Milei’s Party Secures Major Win
British Journalist Sami Hamdi Detained by U.S. Authorities After Visa Revocation Amid Israel-Gaza Commentary
King Charles Unveils UK’s First LGBT+ Armed Forces Memorial at National Memorial Arboretum
At ninety-two and re-elected: Paul Biya secures eighth term in Cameroon amid unrest
Racist Incidents Against UK Nurses Surge by 55%
UK Chancellor Rachel Reeves Cites Shared Concerns With Trump Administration as Foundation for Early US-UK Trade Deal
Essentra plc: A Closer Look at a UK ‘Penny Stock’ Opportunity Amid Market Weakness
U.S. and China Near Deal to Avert Rare-Earth Export Controls Ahead of Trump-Xi Summit
Justin time: Justin Herbert Shields Madison Beer with Impressive Reflex at Lakers Game
Russia’s President Putin Declares Burevestnik Nuclear Cruise Missile Ready for Deployment
Giuffre’s Memoir Alleges Maxwell Claimed Sexual Act with Clooney
House Republicans Move to Strip NYC Mayoral Front-Runner Zohran Mamdani of U.S. Citizenship
Record-High Spoiled Ballots Signal Voter Discontent in Ireland’s 2025 Presidential Election
Philippines’ Taal Volcano Erupts Overnight with 2.4 km Ash Plume
Albania’s Virtual AI 'Minister' Diella Set to 'Birth' Eighty-Three Digital Assistants for MPs
Tesla Unveils Vision for Optimus V3 as ‘Biggest Product of All Time’, Including Surgical Capabilities
Francis Ford Coppola Auctions Luxury Watches After Self-Financed Film Flop
Convicted Sex Offender Mistakenly Freed by UK Prison Service Arrested in London
United States and China Begin Constructive Trade Negotiations Ahead of Trump–Xi Summit
U.S. Treasury Sanctions Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro over Drug-Trafficking Allegations
Miss USA Crowns Nebraska’s Audrey Eckert Amid Leadership Overhaul
‘I Am Not Done’: Kamala Harris Signals Possible 2028 White House Run
NBA Faces Integrity Crisis After Mass Arrests in Gambling Scandal
Swift Heist at the Louvre Sees Eight French Crown Jewels Stolen in Under Seven Minutes
U.S. Halts Trade Talks with Canada After Ontario Ad Using Reagan Voice Triggers Diplomatic Fallout
Microsoft AI CEO: ‘We’re making an AI that you can trust your kids to use’ — but can Microsoft rebuild its own trust before fixing the industry’s?
×