16 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 first 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 Labour Party Manifesto mentions these important elements explicitly or implicitly. Following that we offer a brief commentary on the treatment of trade policy in the manifesto.
Charlotte Humma May 16th, 2017
Posted In: UK - Non EU, UK- EU
Tags: Brexit, Environment, FTA, Labour, Manifesto, MRAs, social, Tarriff-free trade, Trade agreements, Transitional period, 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
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
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
22 August 2016
Dr Emily Lydgate is a Lecturer in Law in the School of Law, Politics and Sociology at the University of Sussex, and is a member of UKTPO
According to government sources at the weekend, the UK probably won’t trigger Article 50 until late 2017. At this point, it is crucial the EU and UK begin negotiating their new trade agreement. Delaying until after Brexit and relying on WTO rules in the meantime would cost the UK billions – in the best case scenario.
The worst case would see trade conflicts erupting and negotiations with the rest of the world in indefinite limbo. (more…)
Charlotte Humma August 22nd, 2016
Posted In: UK- EU
Tags: Article 50, Legal Issues, WTO
29 July 2016 
Professor L. Alan Winters, Professor Jim Rollo and Dr Peter Holmes are all members of UKTPO
Liam Fox MP, the President of the Board of Trade, is reported as saying that the UK should leave the EU Customs Union so as to give it the freedom to negotiate Free Trade Areas (FTAs) with other countries.
This would be an unexceptionable step after full Brexit but a provocative, and very probably costly, one before Brexit. (more…)
Charlotte Humma July 29th, 2016
Posted In: UK- EU
Tags: Article 50, Customs Union, FTA, Single Market, WTO
