UK trade minister says ‘no deal’ Brexit more likely than not

KEY POINTS

• Liam Fox said that "intransigence" by EU officials "is pushing us towards no deal."
• He put the chance of Britain crashing out without a deal at 60 percent.

Liam Fox, U.K. international trade secretary, speaks at the American Enterprise Institute in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Monday, July 24, 2017.

Eric Thayer | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Britain's international trade minister says it's likely the U.K. will fail to agree upon a divorce deal with the European Union before it leaves the bloc next March.

Trade Secretary Liam Fox told the Sunday Times newspaper that "intransigence" by EU officials "is pushing us towards no deal." He put the chance of Britain crashing out without a deal at 60 percent.

Divorce talks have stalled, and the British government is trying to heap pressure on the other 27 EU nations to compromise by stressing the economic harm from a "no-deal" Brexit that imposes tariffs and other barriers on U.K.-EU trade.

The bloc says Britain has failed to make realistic proposals. British Prime Minister Theresa May's Conservative government is split over how close an economic relationship it should seek with the bloc.