LONDON — Britain and the European Union appeared on the cusp of a landmark post-Brexit trade agreement on Wednesday, with negotiators in Brussels all but resolving the final issues, a person briefed on the talks said. An announcement appeared to be imminent, likely on Christmas Eve, which would be exactly a week before the Dec. 31 deadline for Britain and the European Union to negotiate long-term trade arrangements. A spokesman for the European Commission, Eric Mamer, posted on Twitter after midnight that work on the agreement “will continue throughout the night,” adding that “hopefully,” it would be an “early start tomorrow morning.”Negotiators are scrambling to finish their talks before Christmas in part to avoid the danger that the deal could not be adopted in time for Jan. 1. Without a deal in place, Britain and the European Union would default to trading under World Trade Organization rules, levying tariffs on each other’s goods.

Source: New York Times December 24, 2020 00:33 UTC