GCC, Britain Announce Historic Trade Deal

The Gulf Cooperation Council and Britain have announced a trade deal worth $5 billion a year in the long run, deepening economic ties between the two sides and making Britain the first G7 nation to sign such an agreement with the Gulf bloc. The agreement was first discussed in 2017 following Britain’s vote to leave the European Union, with formal negotiations commencing in June 2022. The British government said Wednesday that the deal would be worth £3.7 billion ($4.96 billion) each year in the long term. The deal will remove 93% of GCC tariffs on British goods, equivalent to the removal of £580 million worth of tariffs by the deal’s tenth year, with ⁠two-thirds of the tariffs being removed as soon as the deal comes into force. In return, Britain has lowered tariffs to the GCC, though the countries’ main exports to Britain, oil and gas, are already tariff-free. GCC Secretary-General Jasem Mohamed Albudaiwi said following the signing that the agreement had a framework designed to achieve “tangible and measurable” economic benefits for businesses, investors ⁠and citizens of ⁠the seven signatory countries, according to a statement by the GCC. He said the agreement spans trade in goods and services, financial services, digital trade, investment protection, telecommunications and others.