Members of the Trump regime and Boris Johnson's government have vaguely implied that they're working on some sort of trade deal that could go live as soon as Britain crashes out of the European Union in a hard brexit, but that's not how trade deals work.
It takes a long time to ratify a trade deal and even longer to negotiate one in the first place and, for the first time, Johnson himself appears to be admitting that things are not going to proceed as quickly as he would like you to believe.
Johnson spoke to the British press on the sidelines of the G7 meeting where he said it would take at least a year if not longer to make a deal.
(Reuters) - It will be tight to meet the United States' desire to do a post-Brexit trade deal with Britain within a year, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Sunday.
In interviews with British television media afterwards, Johnson said the United States wanted to do a deal within a year of Britain leaving the EU on Oct. 31.
"Years and years is an exaggeration, but to do it all within a year is going to be tight," he told BBC TV.
Consider the fact that Congress still hasn't touched Trump's fake replacement for the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) -- and probably never will -- and you will see how remote the chances are that a free trade deal with Britain could be hammered out within a year. An election year.
You know, even if a trade deal with Britain was signed into law next week, that wouldn't necessarily mean we'll all start buying Mutton. It takes years if not decades to develop a consumer base in a foreign market even if it doesn't cost anything to export goods there. That's why Trump's trade war will still be with us long after he's gone -- he has destroyed markets that took decades to develop access to with no tariffs in place.