International trade

Boris Johnson's Government have negotiated a new 'deal' with the European Union. It is formed of a Political Declaration and a Withdrawal Agreement. This paper focuses on the Withdrawal Agreement and how it compares to the one negotiated by Theresa May's Government in November 2018. The main differences are in the Protocol on Ireland/Northern Ireland or the 'backstop' as it is commonly known. It contains very different arrangements, the UK will no longer be in a single customs territory or union with the EU. The UK will no longer be legally bound to continue with level playing field commitments at the end of the transition period. Northern Ireland will still be in the UK's customs territory and VAT area, however, the region will align with the EU's rules in these areas. Northern Ireland will remain mostly aligned to the EU's regulations for goods. Four years after the end of the transition period Northern Ireland's democratic institutions will vote on whether they wish to continue the arrangements in the Protocol.

The No-deal Brexit: A guide to Commons Library research is an annotated bibliography of sources published by the House of Commons Library on a potential no-deal Brexit. It will be updated regularly. Links to the papers included in the resource are available on this page, the downloadable version includes additional comment on some of the selected papers.

The UK will need its own tariffs if it leaves the EU without a deal. This note explains the background.

Trade in services is hugely important to the UK economy. This Insight looks at what might change if the UK leaves without a deal. It also shows how Office for National Statistics (ONS) experimental statistics helps unravel the complexity of services trade with the EU and other countries

Statistics on UK trade, 1948-2018

There is ongoing debate about trophy hunting, its contribution to wildlife conservation and links to wildlife trafficking. Those opposed to trophy hunting are calling for a ban on imports of hunting trophies into the UK.

The EU has over a thousand international agreements with non-EU countries, covering trade, aviation, nuclear co-operation and other issues. These will cease to apply to the UK when it leaves the EU. The Government has identified 157 agreements with non-EU countries that it is seeking in order to replace these arrangements in the event of a no deal Brexit. Some agreements have already been concluded, but engagement is ongoing for most of these and some will not be in place by the scheduled Brexit day of 31 October.

This briefing paper sets out the implications for UK trade with EU and non-EU countries of a no deal Brexit.

We don't know what the future relationship between the UK and the EU will be. It has been suggested that an Association Agreement might be appropriate because it is a fairly flexible kind of agreement and can include a Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area. But an Association Agreement also requires a degree of legislative approximation of the third country with the laws of the EU, and it isn't clear whether the UK Government would find this acceptable. This paper looks at the scope and contents of some existing Association Agreements.

The EU and the other 27 Member States have been preparing for a possible no-deal, or 'disorderly', Brexit. The European Commission has had a no-deal preparedness plan which is now complete, and the EU27 have also been implementing their own preparations which will take effect if the UK leaves the EU without a withdrawal agreement at the end of October 2019. This paper looks at the EU preparedness programme and at some of the EU27 measures, particularly in the area of citizens' rights.

Growth has slowed in recent months, while a faltering international economy and Brexit uncertainties pose risks to the outlook.

This short note has been prepared in advance of the Westminster Hall debate “UK Trade and investment strategy” which will take place on Tuesday 23 July 2019.

The UK is party to hundreds of international treaties with third states or organisations, many of them on trade, by virtue of its EU membership. To continue to benefit from the advantages of these agreements, the Government has been seeking to replace them in a UK bilateral context. The Government has prioritised trade agreements, but has also agreed replacement agreements covering aviation services and safety, and road transport, for example. But Parliament is not happy about the way the Government is carrying out this 'treaty continuity programme' and Committees in both Houses have called for a greater scrutiny role for Parliament in treaty-making processes. This paper looks at what has been going on and what Parliamentary Committees in both Houses have asked for. It includes a table showing where we are with scrutiny of these treaties and what sort of scrutiny they have undergone, both in their precursor form as EU treaties and currently as replacement treaties.