Liam Fox, the international trade secretary, has said he expects the issue of Britain’s relations with the EU to be resolved by 2020, the date of the next election. In Washington, Fox and the UK ambassador Kim Darroch met the commerce secretary, Penny Pritzker, and the US trade representative, Mike Froman. “The first thing is to dispel the idea that Britain leaving the European Union was somehow an anti-free market decision,” Fox said. It is also potentially significant that he does not foresee the UK continuing an institutional relationship with the EU in the future. Completing a free-trade deal requires not only reducing or eliminating any tariffs on goods but also dismantling services barriers and regulatory impediments to trade.

Source: The Guardian July 26, 2016 12:00 UTC