Here’s what we have gained by the new trade deal Labaik
The government has signed a trade deal with Switzerland, heralded as the most significant such agreement in the run-up to Brexit.
The deal, known as a trade continuity agreement, will guarantee future trading terms between the two countries once the UK has left the EU.
It was signed, in the Swiss city of Bern, by International Trade Secretary Liam Fox and the Swiss federal councillor Guy Parmelin.
The agreement is designed to remove the threat of additional tariffs in trade between the two countries and to also to lift the possibility of additional duties on "the vast majority of goods".
The government says that "trading on these preferential terms", as opposed to sticking to the terms of the World Trade Organisation, "will deliver significant savings and help to safeguard British jobs".
It is claimed that the deal will, for instance, avoid around £8m of tariffs being added to the price of cars exported from the UK to Switzerland, while British consumers will benefit from lowers prices on Swiss goods, "such as clocks, watches and pharmaceutical products".
The trade between the two countries is reckoned to be worth more than £32bn per year, making this the biggest agreement signed since the UK voted to leave the European Union.
And that’s just the start.
I’m optimistic.
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