6 - Trade

The UK has to negotiate the terms of its departure and we’ll have to wait to get a clearer idea of what the UK’s future trade relations with the EU will be.

The UK is a major trading partner for the rest of the EU

In 2016, around 44% around 44% of the UK’s exports in goods and services went to other EU countries in 2016, while 53% of imports into the UK came from other countries within the bloc.

Only two of the UK’s top 10 trading partners – the US and China – are outside of Europe. ( Fig.1)

Post-Brexit, the UK will have to re-negotiate agreements with the bloc’s trading partners. That’s over 50 countries.

The EU is also negotiating trade agreements with about another 70 countries, which means the UK will need to re-negotiate or begin bilateral talks on more than 100 trade agreements. (Fig.2)