18 May 2017
Compiled by Fellows of UKTPO
Brexit will leave many areas of UK policy open to change. International trade policy is among the most important of these for UK prosperity and also among the most immediate because the status quo cannot simply be extended. This is the second in a series of blogs reporting what the major political parties say about trade policy in their 2017 manifestos, as they become available.
The UK Trade Policy Observatory (UKTPO) has set out a series of issues that it believes should be considered in any election manifesto that might form the basis of the UK’s future trade policy. The table below checks whether or not the Liberal Democrats’ Manifesto mentions these important elements explicitly or implicitly. Following that we offer a brief commentary on the treatment of trade policy in the manifesto.
The central plank of the Liberal Democrats’ manifesto is remaining in the single market and the customs union. This implies no change to current trade policies and hence little need to discuss them in the manifesto. Thus their coverage of trade policy is rather sparse. (more…)
Charlotte Humma May 18th, 2017
Posted In: UK - Non EU, UK- EU
Tags: Brexit, Customs Union, FTA, Liberal Democrats, Negotiations, Single Market, tariffs, WTO
26 April 2017
On 22 February 2017, UKTPO, CBI and the TUC held an event in Newcastle that brought together employees and employers to discuss the important regional issues for post-Brexit trade. This guest blog by Sarah Glendinning, Regional Director for the North East, CBI; and Beth Farhat, Regional Secretary, Northern TUC draws on this discussion.
Now that Brexit negotiations are officially underway it’s important to consider what kind of deal workers and businesses want from negotiations, and what kind of deal will enable all parts of the country to develop and prosper after we leave the EU.
As representatives of working people and businesses from across the North East, we are seeking a Brexit deal that ensures stability and delivers decent jobs, fair pay and growth for the region. (more…)
Charlotte Humma April 26th, 2017
Posted In: UK- EU
Tags: Brexit, Businesses, Negotiations, North East, Workers, WTO
19 April 2017
L. Alan Winters CB, Professor of Economics and Director of UKTPO.
Economists for Free Trade’s Patrick Minford recently suggested that the UK should
simply eliminate our tariffs on them [the EU], and by implication – under WTO rules – on everyone else. By doing so, we would achieve free trade for our consumers with one quick move [and increase consumer welfare by 4%] Minford (2017).
This, he explains in a fuller exposition, is achievable ‘via Unilateral Free Trade’ – see page 8 of Minford and Miller (2017), henceforth referred to as M&M.
But this claim is misleading or worse:
Charlotte Humma April 19th, 2017
Posted In: UK- EU
Tags: Brexit, FTA, Negotiations, tariffs, WTO
29 March 2017
New analysis shows that the nations of the UK are exposed to trade with the EU in quite different ways. If the UK leaves the EU without a trade deal the effects across regions will be quite different and this should therefore influence our trading priorities
Our Fellows have analysed trade data to examine the regional and sectoral impact of Brexit as well as the overall national impact.
Their findings, portrayed in a short video animation show that choosing trade priorities on the basis of aggregate UK data does not take into account the fact that the nations within the UK are exposed to trade with the EU in different ways.
Katherine Davies March 29th, 2017
Posted In: UK - Non EU, UK- EU
Tags: Article 50, Brexit, Car Industry, Exports, Negotiations, Regions, Sectoral Deals
7 February 2017
Dr Emily Lydgate is a lecturer in Law at the University of Sussex and a fellow of the UK Trade Policy Observatory.
While the UK government White Paper on leaving the EU may be light on detail, it does suggest that securing UK environmental protections is near the bottom of its list of priorities, with a scant dedicated paragraph (8.41). Compare this with its complete section on worker’s rights; or compare to the country of Wales, which includes maintaining social and environmental standards as one of six Brexit priorities. (more…)
Tina Perrett February 7th, 2017
Posted In: UK - Non EU, UK- EU
Tags: Article 50, Environment, FTA, Negotiations, Regulations, TTIP, USA, White Paper
17 January 2017
Dr Peter Holmes (Reader in Economics and member of the UK Trade Policy Observatory at the University of Sussex), reacts to Prime Minister Theresa May’s speech on negotiating objectives for exiting the EU.
The speech essentially confirms what we knew already, that sticking to the government’s red lines on the European Court of Justice and free movement would make joining the European Economic Area impossible and so we must leave the single market. (more…)
Katherine Davies January 17th, 2017
Posted In: UK- EU
Tags: Article 50, Customs Union, FTA, Negotiations, WTO
13 January 2017
Erika Szyszczak is a Professor of Law at the University of Sussex, Barrister and ADR Mediator at Littleton Chambers, Temple and a Fellow of the UKTPO.
EU trade policy has been cast into shadow by the sharp focus on how the UK will conduct its future trade policy. But it will be in the interests of the EU and the UK to negotiate their future trading relationship as quickly and smoothly as possible. An issue for the EU will be the question of whether it will have exclusive competence to negotiate and ratify a trade deal with the UK. Or will it be forced to acknowledge that any future agreement will be a mixed agreement requiring, and risking, ratification by all 27 Member States?
Two events at the end of 2016 have shed light on the legal and political issues facing the EU in negotiating a post-Brexit world. (more…)
Katherine Davies January 13th, 2017
Posted In: UK- EU
Tags: Canada, CETA, Legal Issues, Negotiations, politics, Singapore, TFEU, Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, Ukraine
7 November 2016
L. Alan Winters, Professor of Economics and Director of UKTPO.
The ideal trading partner is rich, large, similar and next door. For the UK this means the EU, and for the UK government, this means trade negotiations with our European neighbours must take priority.
In my recent article for the NIESR November Review, I explore the reasons why negotiating the UK’s future trade arrangements is a massive job. These are the main points I raise. (more…)
Charlotte Humma November 7th, 2016
Posted In: UK- EU
Tags: Negotiations, WTO
