https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-66214927
The business secretary's comments come as she signs off a new deal with 11 Asia and Pacific nations.
I'm a buyer for a large wholesaler and distributor. The glaringly obvious reason I do direct trade with e.g. Germany over New Zealand is the huge discrepancy in time/cost of haulage.
I'm not going to suddenly start buying/selling coffee from one of the countries in this deal when, even with all the extra red tape and costs when trading with the EU post-Brexit, it would still work out cheaper and vastly quicker to buy from/sell to the EU.
But... but... but... sOvErEiGnTy... surely countries across the world are queuing up to trade with us and willing to pay for the haulage?
No but they signed a free trade deal with the EU. At the same time as ours.
So this is def not a benefit of Brexit. As we would have had the same deal if we remained. NZ just now has 26+ more nations than the UK to trade freely with.
The downsides are the ability for companies to sue countries for passing legislation that reduces profits.
Should we really be justifying international trade deals in the same way people justify their Gym membership?