UK signs post-Brexit free trade deal with Singapore

LONDON (AP) — The U.K. has signed a free trade deal with Singapore covering trade worth 17.6 billion pounds ($23.4 billion,) the latest in a series of trade pacts that Britain is seeking to secure around the world post-Brexit.

International Trade Secretary Liz Truss, who was in Singapore for the ceremony, said Thursday the deal was the second-biggest that Britain has signed in the Asia-Pacific region.

The agreement came as British and European Union officials make a final push to break a deadlock over the U.K.'s future trade relationship with the bloc.

Britain left the EU on Jan. 31, but remains in its economic structures until the end of the year. The Singapore deal largely mirrors one that the Asian city-state already has with the EU, and effectively allows trade to continue as before after Jan. 1.

Truss said the pact with Singapore “secures certainty” for businesses and is “further proof we can succeed as an independent trading nation.”

Singapore is Britain's largest trading partner in Southeast Asia, and the British government said that the deal will “provide a gateway to Asia for U.K. businesses.”

Truss is also expected to sign a similar deal with Vietnam to ensure trade continues on the same terms in the new year.