GCC, U.K. reach milestone trade agreement worth up to $5 billion

Tariffs on British goods entering the Gulf, from the luxury Rolls-Royce cars favored by royalty to the chocolate and butter that line the aisles of Waitrose supermarkets in Abu Dhabi and Dubai, will be dropped under the terms of a new trade deal.

The Gulf Cooperation Council signed the milestone free-trade agreement with the United Kingdom on Wednesday, strengthening economic ties between post-Brexit Britain and the six-member bloc that comprises the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar and Oman.

The deal, announced by U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Wednesday, is expected to add as much as $5 billion to the U.K. economy and will eventually strip away $780 million in duties a year.

The GCC nations combined are the U.K.’s 10th-largest trade partners, accounting for about $71 billion in bilateral trade.