UK’s Javid: Frictionless trade with the EU would be ‘over’ – BBC

UK’s Finance Minister Sajid Javid recently crossed wires, via BBC, while flashing another warning to Brussels. The UK’s Chancellor reacted to the  British Retail Consortium’s (BRC) warning that border checks on imports could cause fresh food supply problems.

Key quotes

"Of course, we are not going to have completely frictionless trade because we have left the [EU] customs union and a single market."

"That is a deliberate decision, because we have a better future as an independent sovereign nation trading with European friends, but also trading more so with the rest of the world."

"We are working closely with the car sector."

"We've been clear there will be some changes but that can be done in a way that the sector... continues to thrive."

FX implications

With the war of words between the EU-UK diplomats being old, headlines like this are gaining less attention from the markets. That said, the GBP/USD pair seesaws around 1.2960 by the press time.