Collection

The UK’s trade agreements

Find out which trade agreements the UK has signed and which the UK is negotiating.

From:
Department for Business and Trade and Department for International Trade
Published
2 March 2020
Last updated
24 March 2025 — See all updates

Trade agreements set out the rules for buying and selling goods and services between 2 or more countries. They reduce restrictions on imports and exports, which can make trading easier and cheaper when they are used.

Trade agreements in force

As an independent trading nation, the UK now has 39 trade agreements in place with 73 partners. These agreements are in force for 72 partners. The UK signed an agreement with Comoros (12 April 2022) under the economic partnership agreement with Eastern and Southern African countries (ESA), and will be covered by this agreement when they bring it into effect domestically.

Recent trade agreements that have come into force include:

The UK-EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement treaty covers all UK trade with the EU.

See all the trade agreements the UK has:

Trade agreements signed but not in force

These are the trade agreements that businesses can use soon, but that are not yet in force.

Once an agreement is reached, it is signed and then scrutinised by Parliament. Following this, the agreement can then be ratified. Only when this is complete, and any implementing legislation has been passed, can it be entered into force, which means it can be used by businesses trading with that country.

The UK signed an agreement with Comoros (12 April 2022) under the economic partnership agreement with Eastern and Southern African countries (ESA).

Trade agreements we are negotiating

The UK is currently negotiating with several countries to draw up new agreements.

The UK’s priorities in 2024 include progressing negotiations with India, Republic of Korea, Switzerland, Israel and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC).

Trade agreement consultations

Before starting a new trade negotiation, we open a public consultation, seeking input on which aspects of our current trading arrangements to improve or amend.

We use this information to help inform our approach for starting negotiations on a trade agreement in the future.

Submit your responses to any open consultations, or read the outcomes to recently closed consultations.

Updates to this page

Published 2 March 2020
Last updated 24 March 2025 show all updates

  1. 'UK-Ukraine Digital Trade Agreement' added to 'Trade agreements in force' section.

  2. The UK and the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) added to the 'trade agreements in force' section.

  3. Number of trade agreements changed from '70+' to '39 agreements with 73 partners' in the 'Trade agreements in force' section of the page to reflect that some trade agreements encompass multiple countries.

  4. Madagascar removed from the 'signed but not in force' section of the page as agreement entered into force 1 August 2024.

  5. 'UK's approach to negotiating an enhanced free trade agreement with the Republic of Korea' added to the 'trade agreements we are negotiating' section of the page.

  6. 'Trade with Turkey: call for input' added to the collection page.

  7. 'Trade with Maldives: call for input' has been added to the consultations section of the collection page.

  8. The trade agreements between the UK and both New Zealand and Australia have been added to the in force section.

  9. Addition of link to UK-Ukraine Digital Trade Agreement in 'Trade agreements we are negotiating' section.

  10. Full content redesign of page, and information updated throughout.

  11. Updated following a content review.

  12. Added a section for the trade agreement with the EU, with links to the agreement document (including summary explainer) and transition checker tool.

  13. Added documents on the UK's approach to negotiating free trade agreements with Australia and New Zealand and on joining the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP).

  14. Added the UK's approach to negotiating a free trade agreement with Japan.

  15. First published.

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