THERESA May is under mounting pressure to pull out of the EU customs union so international trade secretary Liam Fox can receive maximum freedom to negotiate new trade deals.
Dr Fox wants the UK to withdraw from the EU customs union, which allows the free movement of goods with no tariffs while imposing barriers at its external borders, to facilitate post-Brexit bilateral trade deals.
However, Mrs May and Chancellor Philip Hammond have both previously said they would prefer Britain to remain part of the EU single market.
The Prime Minister is set to decide in the coming months whether Britain should leave the customs unions as part of her negotiating strategy.
Dr Fox is adamant the UK should break out of the EU framework so he is free to negotiate new global trade deals
He said: "We have nothing to fear from forging our own free-trade environment and breaking out on our own.”
Prime Minister Theresa May said at a press conference today with the Italian Prime Minister that she was open to all options regarding Brexit.
Before the Brexit vote, the Treasury warned leaving the customs union would add more administrative costs to trade and delays at borders.
This would affect trade between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland.
According to the Treasury's April report on Brexit options, leaving the customs union would require all exports to the EU to be declared to customs authorities.
Dr Fox has said that he expects Britain's relationship with the EU to be resolved by 2020.
He has suggested the UK would trigger Article 50 in the new year.
The new trade secretary has been on a tour of the US hoping to reassure Americans to invest in the UK.
Speaking during his tour, he said: "A vote to leave the EU and a change in government means we now have a golden opportunity to make Britain a truly global trading nation.”
The US trade secretary, Michael Froman, has said that America would only discuss a new transatlantic deal after the UK left the European Union.
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