Trade Secretary Liam Fox, a veteran Brexit campaigner, warned he will not accept a deal with the European Union that stops the U.K. signing trade accords with other countries, as the government continues to debate what kind of relationship it wants with the bloc.
Fox said in an interview that the U.K. cannot be in any agreement with the EU that prevents him striking new bilateral deals with other countries. His comments follow reports that some of Prime Minister Theresa May’s officials believe the U.K. should replicate membership of the EU’s customs union after Brexit.
Under current terms of customs union membership, EU member countries are banned from negotiating free trade agreements with other countries. The EU strikes deals on behalf of all 28 member nations instead.
Asked if replicating the terms of customs union membership would be a problem for him, Fox said: “Yes. We’ve said we will not come to an arrangement with the EU that prohibits us from having an independent trade policy -- and we cannot be in the customs union.”
“Of course we want to have a customs arrangement that leaves us with trade that’s as frictionless as possible, and in terms of a trade agreement we will want to have one that leaves us with an open and liberal relationship. That’s in the interests of both the UK and our European partners.” [...]
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