The UK and the EU agreed that the transition period would end on 31 December, 2020, as part of the Withdrawal Agreement which was concluded last year. This is part of UK law. You may be aware that on 12 June, Michael Gove announced that HM Government has now formally informed the EU that the UK will not be seeking any extension.
Whilst I acknowledge your concerns, I entirely support the Government’s policy, and strongly agree with ministers’ views that an extension to the transition period would only create greater uncertainty for the UK’s businesses.
Provision is being made to ease the move to a new regime: firms will receive "time to adjust", as the Government has announced that checks on EU goods coming into the UK will be phased in next year. Rather than full import controls taking effect in January, firms will be able to defer customs forms and tariff payments for six months, and some physical checks will be delayed to July.
As the BBC reported, business representatives have welcomed this: the Freight Transport Association said ministers had listened to its "concerns" while business lobby group, the CBI, said the move was "pragmatic and sensible".
I think it is important to emphasise that the UK’s negotiating position has been, and remains, very clear: the Government seeks a comprehensive free trade agreement. This was outlined in the political declaration, and has not changed. Since our departure from the EU, the European Commission has sought at every opportunity to reinterpret this document and so-called “level playing field”. The EU’s demands go beyond any trade agreement currently in existence and are clearly designed to lock us into EU institutions’ rules beyond the transition period. This is unacceptable; it is not what the British people voted for in the EU referendum or the General Elections of 2017 and 2019.
There is a great future for Britain and for British businesses, and this is the time to look to new opportunities and new trading arrangements around the world.