UK Will Not Sign Hasty Post-Brexit Trade Deals, says Rishi Sunak

 As he prepares to sign agreements with India and the US, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak stated on Thursday that the UK will not "compromise quality for haste" in negotiating post-Brexit free-trade agreements.

The UK is eager to use Brexit as an opportunity to seal international agreements, and under Boris Johnson, the country announced a number of agreements with nations outside the European Union.

However, the country's agreement with Australia, reached last year by Sunak's brief predecessor Liz Truss, "gave away far too much for far too little in return," according to former environment minister George Eustice.

Additionally, he claimed that Truss, who was serving as trade minister at the time, had established "arbitrary targets" for deal closure.

Following discussions about the matter with world leaders during this week's G20 summit in Bali, Sunak informed MPs on Thursday that he would only accept deals if he felt they were worthwhile.

Sunak informed the House of Commons, "I met with (Indian) Prime Minister (Narendra) Modi, where we reviewed progress on our upcoming FTA (free trade deal)."

He claimed that he had also spoken with the leaders of Australia, Canada, and Japan about Britain's potential membership in the CPTPP (Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership).

I won't compromise quality for speed when it comes to trade deals, no matter who they are with, said Sunak.

He continued, "It is crucial that we take the time to get trade deals right.

Sunak did acknowledge, however, that among CPTPP leaders "there was enormous excitement" around the possibility of the UK joining and that "we will continue to finalize those negotiations as swiftly as possible."

The CPTPP, whose 11 participants represent 13.4% of the world's GDP, received a formal application from Britain last year.

There is disagreement within the UK government about how many visas London will grant Indian nationals as part of the agreement, but negotiations with India on a bilateral agreement are still ongoing.

However, given the current political climate in Washington, there doesn't seem to be any chance of an impending agreement with the US; instead, the UK is concentrating on agreements with specific US states.