Britain | International trade

Britain’s post-Brexit trade policy is slowly maturing

The government is taking a more flexible approach

THE DEPARTMENT FOR INTERNATIONAL TRADE (DIT) is certainly busy. On January 13th Anne-Marie Trevelyan, the international-trade minister, launched new talks with India. Just over a month later, on February 18th, she announced progress towards her goal of joining the Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), a trade deal with 11 countries around the Pacific Rim. A digital deal with Singapore is imminent. A cruel observer might dismiss all this as a shallow demonstration of the country’s post-Brexit freedoms. A kinder one might note that, although it is not yet perfectly formed, Britain’s trade policy is at last maturing into a more workable form.

This article appeared in the Britain section of the print edition under the headline “A more flexible approach”

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