Question to the Department for International Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, how many free trade deals with countries he plans to sign within the first six months after the UK leaves the EU.

Our priority is to be in a position to begin formal negotiations with key partners after we leave the EU, and to then make progress towards substantive agreements, so long as such agreements work for the whole of the UK. We have consulted on our first four potential free trade agreements (FTAs), with Australia, New Zealand, the United States and the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP). We will publish the Government’s response to these consultations before any negotiations begin.

Trade agreements vary in shape, scope and form, and there is no “average” timeframe. For example, the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) between the EU and Canada took seven years to negotiate, the China-Switzerland FTA took two, but the USA-Jordan FTA negotiations only four months. The Government is clear that its objective is to negotiate the best possible free trade agreements for the whole of the UK, in the interests of business and consumers. Necessarily, this will take different amounts of time to conclude with different partners.

While we are looking to forge new agreements, the Government is also seeking continuity for our existing EU trade agreements as we leave the European Union. We have made good progress, signing trade continuity agreements with Switzerland, Chile, the Eastern and Southern African (ESA) states, the Faroe Islands, Israel, and the Palestinian Authority.

We will post details of signed agreements on the Gov.uk website.