Britain’s post-Brexit trade policy is slowly maturing

THE DEPARTMENT FOR INTERNATIONAL TRADE (DIT) is certainly busy. On January 13th Anne-Marie Trevelyan, the international-trade minister, launched new talks with India. Just over a month later, on February 18th, she announced progress towards her goal of joining the Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), a trade deal with 11 countries around the Pacific Rim. A digital deal with Singapore is imminent. A cruel observer might dismiss all this as a shallow demonstration of the country’s post-Brexit freedoms. A kinder one might note that, although it is not yet perfectly formed, Britain’s trade policy is at last maturing into a more workable form.