THE United Kingdom is set to announce the broad terms of a free trade deal with Australia yesterday, its latest post-Brexit accord as Prime Minister Boris Johnson seeks to expand commerce beyond the European Union (EU).

The pact was finalized at a dinner between Johnson and Australian prime minister Scott Morrison on Monday night, Bloomberg News quoted sources familiar with the negotiations as saying yesterday.

The agreement is expected to cut tariffs on products like Scotch whisky, clothing and cars. It is also due to reduce levies on agricultural products, a point of controversy that had sparked a backlash from Britain’s farming sector.

Completing the Australia deal -- which is expected to boost the size of the U.K. economy by 0.02 percent over 15 years -- is a symbolic boost to Johnson’s post-Brexit agenda, being the first agreement with a major ally that goes beyond rolling over an existing EU trade relationship. Australia is the U.K.’s 20th-largest trading partner globally, and trade with Australia made up 1.2 percent of Britain’s total in 2020.

The U.K.-Australia negotiations had been mired in controversy in recent weeks over concerns from British farmers that they would be undercut by cheap meat imports. The British Government had hinted that tariff reductions would be phased in to protect farmers.

Progress with Australia is a welcome relief for Johnson amid ongoing tensions with the EU over their post-Brexit settlement.

Britain’s next trade targets are deals with New Zealand and the United States, though an accord with the latter in the short-term looks unlikely given U.S. President Joe Biden’s desire to focus on domestic issues. The British Government also sees the Australia accord as a stepping stone to joining the CPTPP, an 11-country pact that includes the likes of Singapore, Malaysia and Japan.(SD-Agencies)