The head of the World Trade Organization has told the BBC that it is ‘very unlikely’ that the government will have agreed tariffs and quotas with all other member countries by next March.
Roberto Azevêdo told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “The moment that other countries begin to sense an opportunity to increase the market share or increase the quota here or there, they’re going to go for that. There will be a lot of uncertainty here, there will be a lot of unpredictability.
“It is very unlikely that you’re going to have 100 per cent agreed outcome for all WTO members between now and March.”
He further warned that if Britain does shift to WTO rules, some sectors will face significantly higher tariffs: “It’s not going to be the end of the world, in the sense that trade is going to stop and that everything is going to fall down, no. But it’s not going to be a walk in the park either”.
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