How important are trade deals? It pains me to admit – their importance is grossly exaggerated. Countries succeed, with or without trade deals, if they produce goods and services other countries want.
Tariffs between developed countries now average low single figures – small beer compared with recent movements in exchange rates. The most worthwhile trade agreements are with fast-growing developing countries which still have high tariffs.
Is our net £10 billion contribution to the EU a price worth paying for tariff-free access to the EU market? If we left the EU with no trade deal – inconceivable given the tariff-free zone from Iceland to Turkey – our exports would face EU tariffs averaging just 2.4 per cent.
But our net contribution to the EU budget is equivalent to a 7 per cent tariff. Paying 7 cent to avoid 2.4 per cent costs is miss-selling that dwarfs the PPI scandal!
Does EU membership help us negotiate free trade deals with the rest of the world? Tariff-free access to the fast growing, protected markets of Asia, Africa and Latin America would be worthwhile. Unfortunately, EU membership prevents us negotiating free trade deals – and the EU has negotiated few deals for us: none with China, India, Australia, Brazil.
Does the EU’s size mean it gets better deals than we could alone? This is the reverse of the truth. The more countries involved in a trade deal the harder, slower and worse the result.
All 28 EU members have a veto on their negotiations which is why EU deals take so long and exclude so much. Bilateral deals are simpler, quicker and more comprehensive.
Hence Chile has deals covering countries with collective GDP five times the EU’s deals. Even Iceland – population less than Croydon – has a trade agreement with China – as does Switzerland.
Boris Johnson has set out a leadership manifesto on the eve of the Conservatives' annual party conference, positioning himself as the custodian of hard Brexit and champion of low-paid workers.
The Foreign Secretary publicly set down his four Brexit red lines and urged the Prime Minister to lift the minimum wage faster and pay public sector workers more in an interview with The Sun newspaper.
It is the second time in as many weeks that Mr Johnson has publicly challenged Theresa May on the Government's Brexit policy - interventions that some colleagues have interpreted as an attempt to undermine her authority.
In an interview ahead of party conference, Mr Johnson said the transition period must last "not a second more" that two years.
Theresa May has threatened a trade war with the US after it slapped punitive tariffs on British-built aircraft, casting doubt on a key plank of her Brexit strategy. # The US Department of Commerce decided Bombardier aircraft, built in Northern Ireland, should be subject to 219 per cent import duty after the American aviation giant Boeing complained that Bombardier had been given unfair state aid.
The Government responded by warning that Boeing’s behaviour “could jeopardise” future Ministry of Defence contracts for its aircraft such as Apache helicopters.
Related: UK feels heat of 219% US trade tariff - putting thousands of British jobs on the line The Prime Minister has appealed directly to President Donald Trump to intervene in the dispute, which has dented her hopes of signing a post-Brexit free trade deal with the US.
The escalating row has also put the Conservatives’ relationship with the DUP under strain, as Bombardier employs more than 4,000 people at its Belfast factories.
America is fast running out of friends in the world.
Just fly £105.21 Just the flight 1 standard cabin bag measuring no more than 55cm x 35cm x 20cm including wheels and handles 1 additional item of under seat cabin baggage, such as a laptop or handbag Max combined cabin baggage weight 10kg Add bags and seats for extra Avios points
aries1234 Forum Posts (5,672)
Osama Bin Laens son hunted by the SAS
Osama bin Laden ’s son is being hunted in a “kill or capture” mission by UK special forces.Hamza bin Laden, 28, has followed in his evil dad’s footsteps to head terror group al-Qaeda.
Now US and British intelligence officers are believed to have listed him as being among their most wanted targets
Hamza disappeared from his father’s remote safe house in Pakistan weeks before Osama was shot dead by US
Navy Seals in 2011