A big selling point of Brexit is the UK’s ability to strike up its own free trade deals with other nations outside the EU, hence why Mr Johnson is courting the interest of major economies such as the US. But alongside these ambitious trade plans, Downing Street could be preparing to increase its cooperation with economies in less touted talked about regions, such as Latin America. In his Telegraph column in 2017, the Prime Minister highlighted that the continent could become a post-Brexit goldmine, making the UK less dependent on trade from Brussels and co.

The then Foreign Secretary, after a trip to Peru, said that since 1966, when the last British Foreign Secretary visited the country, the UK has concentrated too much on Europe.

He argued that Brexit presented a chance to broaden Britain’s trading horizons.

He said: “You could argue that over the succeeding decades we became more Eurocentric and less instinctively global than we had been; and we simply lost focus on Latin America.

“In exports we are thrashed by other Europeans – France, Germany and Spain. Chile is full of Anglophiles; I was amazed how often I was asked to sign dog-eared books. But the UK makes up only 0.8 percent of Chilean imports.

“Now is our moment not to be less European – we can do a great free trade deal with the EU that will benefit both sides – but to be truly global again.

“Now is the time to create deals with these dynamic countries. But our Latin American partners are emphatic: if this is to work, we must come fully out of the EU customs union.”

The potential for economic progress in South America is likely one of the many reasons Mr Johnson has supported departure from the customs union, and indeed the EU.

The Prime Minister’s priority for now remains negotiations with Brussels.

Michel Barnier said today in his plans that quota-free access to EU markets was dependent on the inclusion of “a mechanism to uphold the high standards we have on social, environmental, tax, and state aid matters today and in their future developments”.

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Mr Johnson has hit back by saying that “no need” to follow Brussels’ rules.

He also said that if Mr Barnier thwarts his proposal for a Canada-style free trade agreement, he could instead pursue a deal like Australia’s.

The Prime Minister added: “I have no doubt that in either case the UK will prosper mightily”.

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