UK settles trade dispute by paying £2.3bn to EU

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
9 Feb 2023 23:27

Treasury minister John Glen said that a final payment of £1.1 billion was wired over the week to resolve a trade dispute over textiles and footwear imported from China to the UK.

A Union flag waves behind a European Union flag, outside the Houses of Parliament, in London, Wednesday, Oct. 19, 2022 (AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali, File)

Despite having left the bloc three years ago, the UK settled on Thursday a trade dispute with the EU by paying the amount of £2.3 billion ($2.8 billion).

Treasury minister John Glen said that a final payment of £1.1 billion was wired over the week to resolve a trade dispute over textiles and footwear imported from China to the UK.

The case goes back to 2017, a year after the UK voted to exit the EU, and although Brexit took full effect in 2020, certain legal issues remained lingering on trade-related matters, including customs regulations.

The bloc's anti-fraud administration held the UK accountable for overlooking customs evasion by its traders importing clothes and shoes from China into Britain, which was at the time still part of the bloc's single market.

Glen said that the British government is "keen to resolve this long-running case once and for all and is committed to fulfilling its international obligations," noting that the final interest payment would "draw a line" to settle the dispute.

"The UK has argued throughout the case that it took appropriate steps to counter the fraud in question," Glen added, noting that the government wanted to end future prospects of having to owe further interest payments over the dispute.