for applications

Smaller businesses can now apply for grants of up to £2,000 to help them adapt to new customs and tax rules when trading with the EU.

The £20 million SME Brexit Support Fund enables traders to access practical support, including training for new customs, rules of origin and VAT processes.

Small and medium sized-businesses that trade solely with the EU – and are new to importing and exporting processes – are encouraged to apply for the grants.

To be eligible, businesses must import or export goods between Great Britain and the EU or move goods between Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

UK government secures bilateral trade agreements

By the end of March this year, the UK government had agreed bilateral trade agreements with 66 non-EU countries, plus the EU. Together, total UK trade with these countries was worth £890 billion in 2019.

The government says that its newly independent trade policy is already creating jobs in the UK and it is committed to seeking agreements with countries covering 80 per cent of UK trade by the end of 2022.

Current top priorities for the UK are negotiating trade deals with the US, Australia and New Zealand, and accession to the CPTPP, (The Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership). This is a trade agreement between Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, and Vietnam.