The UK and EU reached a post-Brexit trade agreement on Christmas Eve after four-and-a-half years of bitter negotiations and only a week to spare until the end of the transition period on Dec. 31.
“EUROMETAL welcomes the vital deal reached in the negotiations on the future of post-Brexit relations between the United Kingdom and the European Union. We believe that this tariff-free deal is a great relief for global steel distribution that avoided the catastrophic effect of a no-deal Brexit” said Daniel Guinabert, EUROMETAL’s Director General in a statement.
The UK left the EU this Jan. 31 but then entered a transition period which is due to expire at the end of December.
UK voters decided to leave the bloc after more than 40 years of membership in a 2016 referendum.
Boris Johnson described the agreement as a “comprehensive Canada-style free trade deal”, and said it will “allow UK goods and components to be sold without tariffs and without quotas in the EU market.”
European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen said: “It was a long and winding road, but we have got a good deal to show for it. It is fair, it is a balanced deal, and it is the right and responsible thing to do for both sides.”
