LONDON: Britain said on Wednesday it had secured a trade deal with the Gulf Cooperation Council worth $5 billion a year in the long run, deepening economic ties with allies in a region dealing with the fallout from the Iran war.

The deal with the GCC, which consists of Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE, comes after US-Israeli strikes against Iran in February triggering Iranian attacks on other countries in the region, putting strain on energy and food supplies.

“At a time of increased instability, today’s announcement sends a clear signal of confidence — giving UK exporters the certainty they need to plan ahead, Britain’s Trade Minister Peter Kyle said.

The British government said the deal would be worth $4.96 billion each year in the long term as the final deal went further on both trade liberalisation and service sector commitments than previously expected.

The deal will remove 93pc of GCC tariffs on British goods, equivalent to the removal of 580 million worth of tariffs by the deal’s tenth year, with two-thirds of the tariffs being removed as soon as the deal comes into force.

The government said that autos, aerospace, electronics and food and drink would be among the sectors to benefit, with cereals, cheddar cheese, chocolate and butter all becoming tariff-free.

In return, Britain has lowered tariffs to the GCC, though the countries’ main exports to Britain, oil and gas, are already tariff-free.

Published in Dawn, May 21st, 2026