The United Kingdom’s withdrawal from the European Union will deprive it of the benefits of existing Free Trade Agreements between the EU and non-European countries such as Canada, Mexico, South Africa, and South Korea.
Major emerging markets outside Europe also offer substantial scope for preferential tariffs under a stand alone FTA with the UK: Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, Russia. Brexit supporters claim that the UK can leverage its cultural and historical ties to forge FTAs with Commonwealth countries like India (“Empire 2.0”), granting concessions on agricultural trade in exchange for access to the developing service sectors of those economies.