9 May 2017
The scope for a tariff-reducing Free Trade Agreement between the UK and US is narrower than that of FTAs with emerging markets like India, as average WTO-bound tariffs in the two countries are already low. Moreover, nearly half of imports to the United States enter the country duty-free. Similarly, British trade negotiators face limited scope for preferential FTAs with other non-European developed economies like Australia, Japan, and New Zealand. Accordingly, the foremost benefits of a post-Brexit FTA between the UK and US and other developed countries would emanate from reductions of Non-Tariff Barriers.