Turkey and Britain signed a free trade agreement, today, Tuesday, to ensure the continuation of trade exchange between the two countries after Britain´s exit from the single market and the European Union´s customs union this week.
Turkish Trade Minister Rohsar Bikan said in a closed-circuit television conference with her British counterpart, Liz Truss, that the agreement will be effective as of January 1.
The agreement with Turkey comes after Britain reached a trade agreement with the European Union last week.
Pecan described the agreement with Britain as "historic" as it includes the same conditions existing between Turkey and the European Union, which are linked by a customs union agreement. Britain is due to leave the European Union on December 31.
Pecan added that without the agreement with Britain, Turkey would have lost 2.4 billion dollars in exports to Britain due to additional tax burdens.
The volume of trade exchange between Britain and Turkey reached about 18.6 billion pounds (25.1 billion dollars) during 2019, according to data from the International Trade Ministry in London.
The ministry stated that the agreement represents a major victory for the auto, manufacturing and steel sectors in Britain, as it includes preferential tariffs for 7,600 companies that exported their goods to Turkey last year. It is noteworthy that Britain is the largest export market for Turkey after Germany.
Pecan said that the agreement on trade exchange without customs duties includes all agricultural and industrial products, adding that his country is working to expand the agreement to include investments and services as well.
Trous said that the agreement "paves the way towards reaching a new, more ambitious agreement with Turkey in the near future, and falls within the framework of our plans to place Britain at the center of a network of modern agreements with dynamic economic systems."
