MOSCOW (Sputnik) — The United Kingdom will resort to other international trade arrangements in case the country's government fails in securing a post-Brexit trade deal with the European Union, UK Minister of State for Exiting the European Union David Jones said Thursday.
"We do not expect that we will not achieve such an agreement, but the prime minister has already made clear that if we cannot come to an agreement, then, clearly, we will have to fall back on other arrangements," Jones said in the House of Commons.
The United Kingdom joined the WTO as an EU member in 1995. Following the 2016 Brexit vote, WTO spokesman Keith Rockwell said the unfolding situation was unprecedented and the organization had no ready procedure for handling the United Kingdom's withdrawal from Europe while remaining a WTO member. According to WTO rules, the United Kingdom cannot renegotiate its trade rules with other members until Brexit is complete.
