UK Wants To Improve LATAM Trade Agreements

UK businesses seeking post-Brexit opportunities beyond the Eurozone have abundant possibilities in Central America, a region whose residents once bought one-third of their imports from the UK but now get less than 1% there, the Financial Times (FT) reported.

“The opportunity is to shift the dial with British business in a significant way because we at the moment don’t do as well as we could,” Jonathan Knott, the UK’s new trade commissioner for Latin America and the Caribbean, told FT.

UK exports to Central America could include, according to FT: green technology, agricultural technology, education technology, life sciences products, and healthcare products as well as military hardware and oil.

The hurdles FT listed include: the lingering dispute between Britain and Argentina over the Falkland Islands; Mexico’s trade agreements with the United States and Canada; and Brazil’s lack of trading history with the UK.

Also, according to experts quoted by FT, business leaders in Central and South America have concluded business leaders from France and other countries have shown more interest than their British counterparts in long-term relationships.