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The UK trade secretary, Kemi Badenoch, is heading to India today, where she is expected to intensify talks over a post-Brexit trade deal.
Badenoch is heading to Jaipur, where G20 trade and investment ministers will be gathering for talks on Thursday and Friday. However, reports from the FT and the BBC suggest that Badenoch will use it as an opportunity to try to iron out “some quite significant issues” to the trade deal, which – if successful – would be a boost for Tory ministers post-Brexit.
It is hoped that an agreement could slash costly tariffs on UK exports, including cars and whisky. Meanwhile, India is looking for a deal that would help improve access for its manufactured goods and services, as well as work visas.
However, both news outlets suggest it is unlikely that a deal will be struck before the UK prime minister, Rishi Sunak, attends the G20 summit on 9-10 September in India, where he is expected to hold talks with his counterpart Narendra Modi.
The UK Department for Business and Trade said in a statement: "The UK and India are committed to working towards the best deal possible for both sides. We’ve made good progress in closing chapters, and are now laser-focused on goods, services and investment.
"While we cannot comment on ongoing negotiations, we are clear that we will only sign when we have a deal that is fair, balanced and ultimately in the best interests of the British people and the economy."
Gains on major indices are relatively muted as trading kicks off. The FTSE 100 is up 0.15%, the FTSE 250 is up 0.12%, Spain’s Ibex is up 0.1%, France’s Cac 40 is up 0.3%, Germany’s Dax is up 0.3% andthe pan-European Stoxx 600 is up 0.01%.
Meanwhile, we are expecting PMI readings from France, Germany, the eurozone, the UK and the US, which will give us a sense of how the manufacturing and services industries fared in August.
The agenda
• 8:15am BST: French flash services and manufacturing PMI (Aug)
• 8:30am BST: German flash services and manufacturing PMI (Aug)
• 9am BST: eurozone flash services and manufacturing PMI (Aug)
• 9:30am BST: UK flash services and manufacturing PMI (Aug)
• 2:45pm BST: US flash services and manufacturing PMI (Aug)
We’ll be tracking all the main events throughout the day ... |
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