Britain and South Korea set up group to boost trade
BRITAIN has created a new working group with South Korea to improve trade links as Liam Fox drives to make the country “the world’s natural business partner” after Brexit.
Government figures from both countries will meet four times a year to discuss greater economic ties once the UK leaves the EU.
Talks will focus on “tackling barriers to market access, trade and investment and wider global trade issues”.
Writing for Telegraph.co.uk, Mr Fox, the International Trade Secretary, announced the deal and promised to make Britain a “hub of global commerce”.
“We want to take advantage of all the opportunities available to us, to ensure that Britain becomes a global leader in free trade,” Mr Fox said.
South Korea becomes the seventh country Britain has agreed trade talks with since the Brexit vote, following Australia, China, India, New Zealand, Norway and the Gulf Cooperation Council.
Trade and investment between Britain and South Korea is worth approximately £10.9 billion a year.
Meanwhile, Donald Trump’s commerce secretary has made securing a free trade deal between America and Britain one of his highest priorities, this newspaper has learnt.
Wilbur Ross, the billionaire nominated to lead on trade in Mr Trump’s administration, is understood to be de- termined to lower barriers between the two countries.
He is said to have “extensive” business relationships and social links to Britain after decades as an investor and wants to embolden the “special relationship”.
The revelation, which comes from a senior Trump source, is a boost for Theresa May, who is planning to fly out to America to meet the president-elect early in the new year.
Hope of a UK-US trade deal was boosted when Mr Trump unexpectedly won the US election last month. Barack Obama had said Britain would be at the “back of the queue” for a trade deal after Brexit, but Mr Trump was supportive of closer ties during his campaign.
Mr Ross, proposed for commerce secretary subject to Senate approval, will target a deal with the UK. “It would be logical to expect that this might be high on the Commerce Department’s list of priorities,” said a senior source in Mr Trump’s transition team.
Mr Ross, 79, has a fortune of more than £1 billion and has known Mr Trump for decades, according to a
Forbes magazine profile. He advised Mr Trump throughout the election campaign.
Earlier this year, as Mr Ross spelled out how trade deals should be done, he said: “Number one: both sides to a trade agreement should announce at the time of signing what their expectations are for their respective economies. There should be then an automatic look-back mechanism after five years and if something has turned out to be very lopsided, there should be an automatic readjustment process.
“Third thing: concessions that we make should be made simultaneously to concessions made by the other parties. Historically we have tended to make our concessions first, the other parties later if at all.”
Mr Ross said current international trading rules are “very bureaucratic” and there needs to be some recompense for America if jobs that were promised fail to materialise.
The United States cannot sign a full trade deal with Britain until the UK is formally outside the EU, expected to be in mid-2019.
But ministers hope a “statement of intent” can be made early next year when government representatives meet Mr Trump.
Mr Fox, who is Mr Ross’s opposite number, mapped out his vision for trade with the world, writing: “By championing free trade and working to remove tariffs and barriers across the world, we can safeguard our prosperity and build an economy that works for everyone.”