The trade agreement between Chile and the United Kingdom and its degree of openness
The trade agreement between Chile and the United Kingdom is one of the 37 Regional Trade Agreements (RTAs) notified to the World Trade Organization (WTO) by the United Kingdom and in force, and the 31st RTA notified to the WTO by Chile and in force.
In 2021, 4,462 lines were duty-free under the Most Favored Nation (MFN) regime, which represented 47% of the UK Tariff and corresponded to 35.2% of its imports from Chile during the 2018-2020 period.
That same year, another 4,158 lines became duty-free under the Chile-United Kingdom Agreement, bringing the total percentage of duty-free tariff lines to 90.8%, equivalent to 90.6% of imports from Chile in 2018-2020.
Finally, 874 tariff lines were still subject to duties, representing 9.2% of the United Kingdom Tariff and corresponding to 9.4% of imports from Chile during the 2018-2020 period.
Chile-Reino Unido: Composición del comercio de mercancías por productos y Secciones del SA, promedio anual (2018-2020)
Conversely, according to a WTO report, 36 lines were duty-free under the MFN regime in 2021, which represented 0.4% of Chile’s tariff and corresponded to 0.2% of its imports from the United Kingdom during the 2018-2020 period.
In the same year, 8,354 lines became duty-free under the trade agreement, bringing the total percentage of duty-free tariff lines to 97.6%, equivalent to 97.9% of imports from the UK in 2018-2020.
After application, 171 tariff lines will continue to be subject to duties, under which 1.9% of imports from the United Kingdom that entered Chile during the 2018-2020 period were made.
Trade agreement
In 2020, the UK’s merchandise exports were worth $403.9 billion and its imports $632.6 billion.
That same year, Chile’s merchandise exports amounted to 67.2 billion dollars and its imports to 55.7 billion.
The UK was the 12th largest exporter and the 5th largest importer of merchandise in the world (respectively 2.3% of total world exports and 3.56% of total world imports).
For its part, Chile ranked 39th among world exporters and 45th among world merchandise importers (respectively 0.42% of total world exports and 0.33% of total world imports).
In the United Kingdom, manufactured products represented the main group of products in its trade (71.6 and 66.1%, respectively, of the exports and imports of the United Kingdom).
In the case of Chile, fuels and mining products represented 52.8% of its exports, followed by agricultural products (33%), while manufactures represented 71.5% of its imports.
