The UK has signed a trade agreement with Singapore covering trade worth £17.6 billion, the International Trade Secretary has announced.
Posting a photograph of herself with Singapore’s trade minister Chan Chun Sing, Ms Truss said it was the second biggest such agreement Britain has signed in the Asia-Pacific region.
It comes as the UK and the EU set a new deadline for a breakthrough on a post-Brexit trade deal on Sunday – which could see the UK crash out of the bloc without agreement within weeks.
Downing Street warned the gaps between the two sides remain “very large” after Boris Johnson and European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen held crunch talks over dinner in Brussels on Wednesday aimed at breaking the deadlock.
Ms Truss said the pact with Singapore “secures certainty” for business, would mean “deeper future ties in digital and services trade” and was “further proof we can succeed as an independent trading nation”.
It follows the UK and Canada reaching a deal last month to continue trading under the same terms as the current European Union agreement after the Brexit transition period ends.
Brexit talks between negotiators will resume but with the route to a deal still unclear, Downing St warned after crunch talks between the Prime Minister and EU chiefs last night.
Both the EU and No 10 have warned after the talks that the deadline for a breakthrough is Sunday or they could collapse – crashing the UK out of transition without a trade deal.
During the talks, Mr Johnson had dinner with the Commission president in a bid to find a way to break the deadlock in trade deal negotiations.
The pair was served steamed turbot, along with mashed potatoes along with wasabi and vegetables, in a nod to the ongoing fishing dispute.
