UK ready to build ‘closer, more mature’ trade links with EU

A container ship. The EU accounted for 41% of UK exports of goods and services and 52% of imports in 2023. Photograph: liorpt/Getty Images/iStockphoto

Britain is taking its first steps towards forging closer trading links with the EU in meetings between the new business secretary, Jonathan Reynolds, and international counterparts in Italy.

In his first overseas visit since Labour’s election landslide, Reynolds will tell a G7 meeting of trade ministers in the Italian city of Reggio Calabria that the new UK government wants to foster a “closer, more mature relationship with our friends in the EU”.