Brexit POLL: Should UK hand Australia a 'zero tariff' deal? VOTE
BREXIT Britain is deliberating whether to agree to a zero-tariff trade deal with Australia which may harm British farmers, so should Liz Truss go forward and sign a deal?
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The Government is locked in an internal battle over whether to grant Australian farmers zero-tariff access to UK markets. If agreed, it is feared some UK farmers would be undercut by the sudden flow of zero-tariff products. However, ahead of the G7 summit, pressure is building on the Government to sign the deal which is regarded as one of the landmark agreements for the UK.
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Amid this internal struggle, Express.co.uk is asking in today's exclusive poll, "Should the UK hand Australia a 'zero tariff' deal?" And readers can let us know more about what they think in the comments section below.
According to Financial Times, the International Trade Secretary and Brexit minister, Lord David Frost are pushing to agree to a zero-tariff deal.
In contrast, George Eustice, the environment secretary, and Michael Gove, the Cabinet Office minister have warned of the domestic backlash from doing so.
Ms Truss has been locked in talks with her counterpart Simon Birmingham over the landmark trade deal.
One person involved in talks said: "There is an absolutely ferocious row going on in Whitehall over Australia deal with real pressure to get it resolved by the end of this week.
"Gove and Eustice are on one side, Truss and Lord Frost on the other.”
Indeed, Ms Truss has placed a deal with Australia, New Zealand and the US as key targets this year.
The cabinet minister has also claimed it would be a failure to not a deal with a key ally in Australia.
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Although Ms Truss is in favour of agreeing on a zero-tariff deal, the Government has previously declared it will protect UK farmer post-Brexit.
A statement from the International Department for Trade said: "Any deal we sign with Australia will include protections for the agriculture industry and will not undercut UK farmers or compromise our high standards."
As well as undercutting British farmers, there are also concerns zero-tariff access for Australian farmers could fuel desires to break away from the UK.
Any deal would particularly hit hard beef and lamb exporters in Wales and Scotland and therefore aid the SNP's independence desires in the latter.
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With estimates predicting any trade deal would be worth an additional 0.01-0.02 percent of GDP, some are cautious over signing away the farming industry.
One insider added: "Basically we’re talking about signing off the slow death of British farming so Liz Truss can score a quick political point."
While some industry leaders have hit out, Brexiteers have claimed the UK must agree to a deal with Australia given the hard break the Government created with the EU.
Sam Lowe, the trade specialist at the Centre for European Reform think-tank, said: "If these deals with Australia and New Zealand don’t get done because of domestic opposition, that pretty much says the UK is not doing anything with global Britain.
"Because if we can’t do these, well, in truth, everything gets more difficult from here."
Despite the scepticism over the deal, the UK Government has claimed any deal would not harm UK food standards or farmers.
It is also understood the Prime Minister has not yet weighed in on talks between the two sides.