UK Closes in on Post-Brexit Trade Deal With Australia

A Union flag flies near the Elizabeth Tower, commonly referred to as Big Ben, at the Houses of Parliament in central London on March 29, 2017. Justin Tallis/AFP/Getty Images

The United Kingdom (UK) secretary for international trade hopes to make history by agreeing to a free trade agreement (FTA) with Australia, which would be its first independently negotiated trade deal from scratch since leaving the European Union.

“Our trading relationship is deep and longstanding, with the UK once Australia’s foremost trading partner,” Liz Truss wrote in The Australian. “We left some of our oldest allies behind when joining the European Common Market in the 1970s, but now is our chance to right this historic wrong.”