Post-Brexit trade deal could take six years to negotiate, warns former WTO head

A comprehensive trade deal after Brexit could take as long as six years to negotiate, according to former World Trade Organisation (WTO) boss Pascal Lamy.

Mr Lamy also said that consumers would be negatively affected if the Government fails to secure a deal before Britain’s departure from the EU.

Speaking to ITV News, the former WTO head explained that goods and services costs would increase sharply if PM Theresa May upholds her “no deal is better than a bad deal” stance when the formal two-year exit process – to formally begin this month with the triggering of Article 50 – ends in 2019.

Failure to secure a deal, Mr Lamy said, would force Britain to adopt the tariffs of the so-called ‘WTO rules’ until it finalised a new arrangement.

He commented: “WTO rules do not provide as good a trade regime as a bilateral deal, like the one that we should or could have between the EU and the UK.”

Speaking further, Mr Lamy put Theresa May’s ‘no deal’ pledge down to Britain simply trying to strengthen its position at the negotiation table.

Such rhetoric, he said, was typical before before trade talks.

He continued: “I’ve been in trade negotiations for 25 years of my life and I’ve heard this notion that no deal is better than a bad deal probably about 500 times.”

Mr Lamy also said it was unrealistic believe the Government will be able to walk away with a strong trade deal in place after just two years of divorce negotiations, as such agreements “are long to negotiate”.

He added: “An ambitious trade agreement – like the one we should have been the United Kingdom and the European Union – will probably take four, five, six years to negotiate.”

Elsewhere, automaker Toyota has committed to its post-Brexit operations in the UK after revealing plans to invest £240m in upgrading its Derbyshire factory.

The plant at Burnaston manufactured around 180k vehicles in 2016, with the majority of them exported to Europe and other overseas markets.

However, Toyota Motor Europe chief exec Johan van Zyl warned that free market access between the UK and Europe “that is predictable and uncomplicated” will be vital for the operation’s future success.