September is shaping up to be a big month for Liz Truss and the Department for International Trade. While the minister herself has been tipped for higher things in the long-awaited reshuffle, she and her officials have been busily working away this recess to seal another trade deal. Wine-lovers across the country will be delighted to hear that a deal with New Zealand is looking likely within weeks, with hopes that it will be agreed by the Tory Party conference at the beginning of October.
As well as improving trade between the two countries – worth some £2.3 billion last year – a deal could expedite Britain’s admission to the Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), which it applied to join in January. It will however risk reopening wounds with the ‘Waitrose Tories‘ and British farmers, still smarting from the wounds of last year’s clashes over the Australia trade agreement.
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