“Being in a customs union and single market for goods with the EU would curtail Liam Fox’s ability to strike trade deals with the rest of the world, and particularly the US. However, there would still be scope to negotiate narrower agreements on services and bilateral investment treaties,” he said.
CBI boss Carolyn Fairbairn calls for UK to stay in customs union
Sam Lowe, trade expert at the Centre for European Reform think-tank added the idea was one of the few “half-way house models” to have gained serious consideration on the European side. “Not only does it bind the UK to EU’s regulatory model in areas such as product standards and food safety, it also has the added benefit of resolving the Irish border conundrum.
“From a UK perspective, geography means the EU will always be its foremost market when it comes to trade in goods, and such an approach would at least prevent some of the most visible negative consequences of Brexit, such as backlogs of lorries stacked up down the M20.