Turkey and the United Kingdom signed a free-trade agreement Tuesday as the UK plans to leave the European Union’s economic orbit at the beginning of the new year.
The deal, which will take effect from January 1, aims to support trade between the two countries which was worth more than $25 billion in 2019.
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It is one of many post-Brexit trade deals the British government is pursuing with nations around the world and came days after it finalised a trade agreement with the EU.
The UK left the EU on January 31 of this year but remained subject to the bloc’s business regulations and within its customs union during a transition period that ends on December 31.
Turkish Trade Minister, Ruhsar Pekcan and Dominick Chilcott, the British ambassador to Turkey, signed the British-Turkish agreement.
Pekcan hailed the deal as the most significant trade pact for Turkey since the signing of a customs union agreement with the EU in 1995.
“The free trade agreement is a new and special milestone in the relationship between Turkey and United Kingdom,” Pekcan said during the ceremony.
Britain is Turkey’s second-largest export market.
A British government’s statement said the deal will secure existing preferential tariffs for some 7,600 British businesses that exported goods to Turkey in 2019, ensuring the continued tariff-free flow of goods.
Both countries have said the deal will lead to a more comprehensive agreement in the future.
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