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<p>The Government is committed to ensuring the benefits of existing EU trade agreements
are maintained, providing a smooth transition as we leave the EU. The best way to
provide that continuity and stability is for the UK to leave the European Union with
a negotiated deal so that the UK can remain covered by all of these agreements during
the proposed Implementation Period.</p><p> </p><p>Nevertheless, the Government is
working to have bilateral agreements in place ready for when they are needed, whether
that is in the event of no deal, or after the proposed Implementation Period. We have
made good progress signing trade continuity agreements, most recently with Iceland
and Norway. Trade with countries where agreements have already been signed or finalised
accounts for more than half of the UK’s trade with countries for which the UK is seeking
continuity.</p><p> </p><p>Many discussions with other countries are at an advanced
stage. As with all such discussions, they tend to go down to the wire, and we would
expect nothing less from these agreements. Each of the UK’s trade partners will have
made an assessment of the likelihood of a no deal scenario, and factored in their
own domestic situations, when approaching discussions of continuity with the UK.</p>
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