The UK is now in a better place on trade “than any other country in the world”, the chancellor has claimed.
Rachel Reeves said Britain’s economic growth was on course to be upgraded as a result of the country’s recent three trade deals agreed with the US, India and the EU.
Reeves suggested the government wanted to go further on its new agreement with the EU but told the BBC a trade pact with countries in the Gulf, including Saudi Arabia and Qatar, would be the “next deal”.
She told the BBC the UK was “not looking to have trade negotiations with China”, despite previously saying she wanted a long-term relationship with the country.
On Monday, the UK and the EU struck a deal across several areas including fishing, trade, defence and energy, which marked the biggest agreement between the parties since the UK left the trading bloc in 2020 following the Brexit vote.
The summit in London came after the government reached a trade deal with India to make it easier for UK firms to export whisky, cars and other products to the country, and cut taxes on India’s clothing and footwear exports.
The government has also secured an agreement with US President Donald Trump to reduce tariffs on some goods traded between the nations.
Reeves described the recent trade deals as having “come along like buses” and hinted at expectations of an upgrade to UK economic growth forecasts as a result.
“Britain is in a better place than any other country in the world in terms of deals with those countries,” she said.
“The first deal and the best deal so far with the US, we’ve got the best deal with the EU for any country outside the EU, and we’ve got the best trade agreement with India,” Reeves added.
“Not only are these important in their own right, but it also shows that Britain now is the place for investment and business, because we’ve got preferential deals with the biggest economies around the world.”
The chancellor told the BBC another deal with Gulf nations was the “next deal”, with the government closing in on a pact with the six-member Gulf Co-operation Council including Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Qatar.
It appears the government had the EU, the UK’s largest trading partner, in mind during its talks with the US and India.
As part of the deal with the EU, in return for extending current fishing rules, checks have been reduced on UK food exports.
Reeves said UK officials had made it clear to the Trump administration and India that food standards were not up for negotiation in their deals.
“We increased the quota for the import of beef from the US, it was all still on the high standards that we pride ourselves in, and in part because standards matter to us, but also because we wanted to secure this agreement with the EU, which is by far the biggest market for UK agriculture and fishing,” the chancellor said.
But while the government has hailed recent trade agreements as triumphs, some opposition parties have criticised Reeves and Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer for some of the concessions offered in return.
Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch said the latest EU deal took the UK “backwards” and previously said the country had been “shafted” in the America tariff pact.
The chancellor received a boost last week when the latest official figures revealed the UK economy had grown by 0.7% in the first three months of the year.
The growth was bigger than expected but is not forecast to last.
The government has made growing the economy its main priority in order to boost living standards. A higher growth rate usually means people are getting paid a little bit more, can spend more and more jobs are created by businesses investing.
Reeves suggested UK growth forecasts could be boosted because of the better figures, but economists have warned US tariffs and the chancellor’s decision to raise National Insurance for employers could hit the economy.
“We are forecasting growth of 1% this year, and we had 0.7% in Q1 and they’ll take into account the new trade deals that have been secured,” she said.
