Thread by @lewis_goodall

So with a US trade deal off the table where are we with post-Brexit trade deals overall? 🧵

DIT tells me they've signed 68 trade deals since Brexit.

Which sounds great (about third of the globe).

But vast majority of these were EU rollover deals, ie the same we had as members

Those rollover deals include

Albania
Canada
Cameroon
Carribean States
Costa Rica
El Salvador
Guatemala
Chile
Honduras
Nicaragua
Cote d'Ivoire
Mauritius
Seychelles
Zimbabwe
Ghana
Israel
Jordan
Kenya
Kosovo
Lebanon
Mexico
Moldova
N Macdeonia
Pacific States
South Korea
Turkey

As for bespoke deals, ie deals which go beyond that which we enjoyed with the EU, DIT says there are improved deals with

Japan
Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein
An Agreement in Principle with Australia

They represent about 5.5% of world GDP.

There's also the FTA with the EU although of course that was a far worse trade deal than we enjoyed as members of the single market/customs union

DIT also say we're close to an AIP with New Zealand. seeking accession to the CPTPP and "will soon begin negotiations with India".

They also say: "We are also negotiating with Singapore on a bespoke digital economy agreement and have also recently closed our public consultations on improving our existing bilateral trade agreements with Mexico and Canada."

But that's it so far. Deals with countries worth around 5% of global GDP. Higher with the EU but as I say, net we've lost significant market access vis a vis our old position.

The argument was that the big prizes would be US and China. Both seem completely distant prospects.

Of course it's been a pandemic. Nations across the world have had bigger priorities than securing trade deals. Nonetheless the prospect of securing more FTAs was held up as one of the great prizes of Brexit, with countries "queuing up" for new deals.

Indeed lots of versions of Brexit were rejected on the basis that it would impede our ability to do those deals. With so few improved deals yet achieved, pressure will be on government for more results- to show why that greater economic distance from the EU was worth it.

NB also worth pointing out that though the Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein deal was bespoke even this isn't actually an improvement on our mutual trading arrangements with these countries as they are EEA members, as previously were we.

https://twitter.com/lewis_goodall/status/1440722798398218252?s=20

So only real over and above deals we've secured so far are Japan and Australia (and Japan's was a sort of rollover, it contained only relatively modest additions to the EU deal).