LIAM Fox, the International Trade Secretary, has confirmed the UK will not be able to roll over the European Union's trade deal with Japan in time for exit day on March 29.
Japan was the most significant on a list of 27 EU trade agreements released by Dr Fox's department on which discussions about possible roll-over were still ongoing; just 36 days from the date of withdrawal.
The Secretary of State predicted in 2017 that the UK would be able to replicate up to 40 EU free trade deals, accounting for some 11 per cent of the UK's trade, at "a second after midnight" on exit day.
However, so far the Government has been able to finalise "continuity agreements" with just seven of the 69 countries and regions with which the EU has trade deals, including Switzerland, Chile, and Israel.
Sir Vince Cable for the Liberal Democrats said a seamless rollover of trade deals was one of the “great myths of Brexit”.
The EU's trade agreement with Japan came into force only at the start of February, creating the world's largest bilateral free trade zone, covering 635 million people, and removed the majority of the £900 million of duties paid annually by EU companies exporting to the far eastern state.
Yet unless the UK can finalise a Withdrawal Agreement by March 29 allowing Britain to continue participating in EU trade deals during a 21-month transition period, it would have enjoyed the benefits of the Japanese agreement for just 57 days.
The department stressed it remained the Government's "priority" to conclude trade continuity agreements with the remaining countries "by exit day or as soon as possible thereafter".
In Commons exchanges, the SNP's Angus MacNeil, who chairs the Commons International Trade Committee, told MPs Britain would have to trade with "seven or eight planets" to make up for losses caused by Brexit.
The Western Isles MP voiced concerns over the "hit" to the UK economy of leaving the single market and cast doubt on the boost of securing an agreement with America.
But Dr Fox rejected Mr MacNeil's analysis and said the UK was aiming to secure "sufficient" access to the European market "in a way that doesn't tie our hands to increased access to other markets".
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