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

The free trade deal between the UK and EU, announced on Christmas Eve, takes effect from 1 January.

What does the agreement mean and what other trade deals has the UK made?

What is a free trade deal?

A free trade deal aims to encourage trade - usually in goods but occasionally in services - by making it cheaper. This is often achieved by reducing or eliminating tariffs - taxes or charges by governments for trading goods across borders.

Trade agreements also aim to remove quotas - limits on the amount of goods which can be traded.

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

Why have tariffs and quotas at all?

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

For that reason a country might choose to put tariffs on car imports, for example, in order to protect local car makers.

What does the EU-UK trade deal mean?

After Brexit happened, 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.

The deal means no tariffs or quotas will be introduced. Without a deal some goods would have become more expensive.

The UK-EU trade deal was announced on Christmas Eve

But not everything stays the same. As the UK will no longer be following the EU's rules on product standards, businesses will need to get used to new checks. This will mean more paperwork, which could cause problems and delays if businesses turn up at ports unprepared.

Strict EU laws on animal products will also mean some UK products can no longer be exported.

The deal also doesn't 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.

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

Before Brexit, the UK was automatically part of any trade deal the EU reached with other countries. When the UK left, the EU had about 40 trade deals covering more than 70 countries.

So far, the UK has made deals to continue trading in the same way with 60 of these countries.

Deals have also been agreed with Canada and Mexico. The government says these will start "in early 2021".

Talks are ongoing with a further six countries or blocs - but the largest agreements have been done.

Any existing EU agreement that is not rolled over ends on 31 December and future trade will take place on World Trade Organization terms until a deal is reached. That means that tariffs and other trade barriers - like extra paperwork - will come into force.

What about other trade deals?

The UK signed a deal with Japan on 22 October - the first that differs from an existing EU deal

The total value of UK-Japan trade (imports and exports) was £31.6bn in 2019, or 2% of the UK's total trade.

The government is also holding trade talks with the US, Australia and New Zealand.

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