Cobden–Chevalier Treaty
The Cobden–Chevalier Treaty was an Anglo-French free trade agreement signed between the United Kingdom and France on 23 January 1860. After Britain began free trade policies in 1846, there remained tariffs with France. The 1860 treaty ended tariffs on the main items of trade—wine, brandy and silk goods from France, and coal, iron and industrial goods from Britain.
Lord Palmerston addressing the House of Commons during the debates on the Cobden–Chevalier Treaty in February 1860, as painted by John Phillip (1863) | |
| Signed | 23 October 1860 |
|---|---|
| Original signatories | United Kingdom, France |
The new policy was widely copied across Europe. According to Stephen Krasner, the treaty set off a "golden age of free trade" in Europe, which lasted until the late 1870s. It was the first of eight "most favoured nation" treaties the British negotiated in the 1860s. By the 1880s, however, the rise of protectionism in Germany, the United States and elsewhere made the treaty less relevant. It was the first modern free trade agreement.
It is named after the main British and French originators of the treaty, Richard Cobden MP and Michel Chevalier.