LONDON (Reuters) - Britain has ruled out any form of customs union with the European Union after Brexit, according to a source in Prime Minister Theresa May's Downing Street office.
May's office declined to comment.
"It is not our policy to be in the customs union," a Downing Street official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said. "It is not our policy to be in a customs union."
The extent of any British post-Brexit involvement in the EU's customs union - which binds members into a trade bloc with common external tariffs - has become an issue of contention inside May's government and her Conservative Party.
If Britain negotiated a form of membership of the - or a - customs union after Brexit, it would probably prevent London from striking trade deals with countries outside the EU.
Britain has said it wants to secure a tariff-free access deal on trade with bloc as part of the overall agreement May is seeking with with the EU.
More From This Section
(Reporting by Guy Faulconbridge and Andrew MacAskill; editing by Michael Holden and William Schomberg)
Disclaimer: No Business Standard Journalist was involved in creation of this content