BREXIT NEGOTIATIONS
UK needs trade deal with SA too, Ford says
Ford suggested it could also seek government support to maintain the benefits of tariff-free trade
Britain needs to strike post-Brexit trade deals with countries such as Turkey and SA as well as the EU, car maker Ford says, underlining the scale of the challenge facing UK Prime Minister Theresa May. Ford, Britain’s biggest maker of automotive engines, operates two manufacturing sites in Britain and, like other companies, has warned that any trade restrictions after the country left the EU could add to costs and endanger British production. All Ford’s Ranger pick-up trucks sold in Britain are made in SA, reflecting the interconnected supply and sales chain made easy by EU trade deals with other countries, which Britain will now need to renegotiate as it leaves the bloc. Ford sends UK-built engines to Turkey, where it assembles its range of Transit vans and then exports many completed vehicles to Britain, benefiting from the barrier-free trade guaranteed by the EU’s customs deal with Turkey. "For Ford, it’s not only important for the UK’s agreement with the 27 [remaining EU] countr...
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