{"id":882,"date":"2017-05-26T16:12:22","date_gmt":"2017-05-26T15:12:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/uktpo\/?p=882"},"modified":"2017-12-12T17:03:02","modified_gmt":"2017-12-12T17:03:02","slug":"what-do-the-general-election-manifestos-say-about-international-trade-ukip","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/uktpo\/2017\/05\/26\/what-do-the-general-election-manifestos-say-about-international-trade-ukip\/","title":{"rendered":"What do the General Election Manifestos say about International Trade? UKIP"},"content":{"rendered":"Share this article: <\/em> \"Facebook\"<\/a>\"twitter\"<\/a>\"reddit\"<\/a>\"pinterest\"<\/a>\"linkedin\"<\/a>\"mail\"<\/a>

26 May 2017<\/em><\/p>\n

Compiled by Fellows of the UKTPO<\/em><\/p>\n

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 fifth in a series of blogs reporting what the major political parties say about trade policy in their 2017 manifestos, as they become available.<\/p>\n

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\u2019s future trade policy. The table below checks whether or not the UKIP Manifesto mentions these important elements explicitly or implicitly. Following that we offer a brief commentary on the treatment of trade policy in the manifesto.<\/p>\n

\"Table<\/p>\n

Analysis<\/h3>\n

Leaving the EU is the key focus for UKIP, and they advocate repealing the European Communities Act (1972) as the first step in the leaving process in order to be able to take back control of key policy areas.<\/p>\n

The UKIP manifesto is explicit about the terms for Brexit with \u2018six Brexit tests\u2019 that argue that Britain must be completely free from the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice, have full control of immigration and asylum policies, and border control as well as control of our maritime exclusive economic zone. The UK \u2018must retake its seat on the World Trade Organisation\u2019, must not pay any divorce payment to the EU, nor contribute to the EU budget and that Brexit \u2018must be done and dusted before the end of 2019\u2019.<\/p>\n

Whilst a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with the EU that will allow trade to continue \u2018on the same basis as at present\u2019 is desired, UKIP does not countenance a transition period:<\/p>\n

if the EU continues to make unreasonable demands in return for even talking about free trade, then we must be prepared to walk away<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

which ‘may be an economically sound choice.’<\/p>\n

In terms of trade policy, UKIP aims to establish the UK on the world market as a low tax, low regulation economy. They state that they will<\/p>\n

‘reduce tariffs wherever possible, unless initiating anti-dumping measures, and oppose the establishment and continuance of protectionist customs unions such as the EU’.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The reference to anti-dumping duties suggests concern for producers threatened by import competition, but UKIP also states that if an FTA with the EU were not reached, it would use tax from import tariffs to cut VAT to compensate consumers for slightly higher prices, or other spending priorities. The reference to customs unions is relevant only to the EU \u2013 UKIP wants to leave \u2013 because no other customs union deals are on the cards.<\/p>\n

Beyond Europe, UKIP embraces new trading markets in all seven continents of the globe (presumably including Antarctica) and pledges to work with (implicitly sign \u2018free trade deals\u2019 with) the US, the Commonwealth and the poorest nations. It says<\/p>\n

The sooner we can start making our own free trade deals \u2026, the better. \u2026 Countries are already queuing up to make trade deals with Britain.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

On social and environmental standards, UKIP commits that<\/p>\n

\u2018We will not engage in unethical trade practices that harm or inhibit [developing countries\u2019] trade, traditional lifestyles, or natural resources.\u2019<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Trade, they say, is<\/p>\n

\u2018a far better way [than aid] to help developing nations lift themselves out of poverty.\u2019<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

While the UK Trade Policy Observatory (UKTPO) takes no institutional position, and will continue to remain firmly non-partisan during the UK General Election, it believes it is useful to share some of the questions that its fellows think will be important when reviewing what the party manifestos say about trade.<\/em><\/p>\n

Examining manifestos is particularly important, because the winning party\u2019s manifesto may be cited under the Salisbury Convention, which precludes the House of Lords from opposing bills passed by the Commons to honour election manifesto pledges.<\/em><\/p>\n

Disclaimer:<\/em>
\nThe opinions expressed in this blog do not necessarily represent the opinions of the University of Sussex.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Republishing guidelines<\/p>\n

The UK Trade Policy Observatory\u00a0believes in the free flow of information and encourages readers to cite our materials, providing due acknowledgement.\u00a0For online use, this should be a link to he original resource on the our website. We do not however, publish under a Creative Commons\u00a0license. This means you CANNOT republish our articles online or in print for free.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Share this article: 26 May 2017 Compiled by Fellows of the 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 fifth 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\u2019s future trade policy. The table below checks whether or not the UKIP Manifesto mentions these important elements explicitly or implicitly. Following that we offer a brief commentary on the treatment of trade policy in the manifesto.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":214,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[130195],"tags":[96141,131307,123525,123527,123589,123591,123581,123590],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/uktpo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/882"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/uktpo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/uktpo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/uktpo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/214"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/uktpo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=882"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/uktpo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/882\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1370,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/uktpo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/882\/revisions\/1370"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/uktpo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=882"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/uktpo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=882"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/uktpo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=882"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}