LONDON (AP) — British businesses and some European Union leaders on Friday urged Prime Minister Boris Johnson to strike a last-minute trade deal with the EU, as the two sides told their citizens to brace for New Year upheaval in the U.K.-EU trading relationship.
Johnson said it was “very, very likely” that negotiations on a new economic relationship to take effect Jan. 1 will fail to strike a deal. Johnson and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen have set a Sunday deadline to decide whether to keep talking or prepare all-out for a no-deal break.
Johnson said “there is a way to go – we’re hopeful that progress can be made” between the two negotiating teams in Brussels.
“But I’ve got to tell that from where I stand now, … it is looking very, very likely” that the U.K. will end up trading with the bloc on World Trade Organization terms — with all the tariffs and barriers that would bring.
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