Lilley discusses why free trade agreements, though mutually beneficial, are not easy to negotiate, not least because of the need to overcome domestic resistance to removing protection. He draws on several decades of experience—from participating in the Uruguay Round and implementing the EU Single Market as British trade minister, to involvement in recent debates as Britain has had to negotiate its own trade deals following Brexit. He reflects on the different dynamics and pros and cons of bi-lateral, multi-lateral, regional and pluri-lateral deals as well as the emergence of novel non-economic arguments against free trade based on environmentalism, human rights, animal welfare, etc.