Profile picture
Ed Wilson @eddwilson
, 7 tweets, 5 min read Read on Twitter
The UK put its proposed tariff schedule to other WTO members on 22 July 2018, which might seem ludicrously late.

Did anybody at the BBC notice?

At least seven countries have lodged major objections to the proposal.

Shouldn't that be considered news?

#bbcaq
Here's the official UK attempt to establish an independent position in the WTO. There are no supporting documents.

#bbcaq

And here's a decent journalist's thread on the subject of the UK's position in the WTO, with the documentation.

#bbcaq

Now an early indication of other countries' objections (though the were raised last year in informal presentations).

#bbcaq

uk.reuters.com/article/uk-bri…
And detail of those objections.

#bbcaq

And here's some detail of the "WTO option".

chrisgreybrexitblog.blogspot.com/2017/02/the-my…

#bbcaq
Follow @CoppetainPU @DavidHenigUK @Allierenison @hhesterm @samuelmarclowe @DmitryOpines and others for ongoing commentary

#bbcaq
Missing some Tweet in this thread?
You can try to force a refresh.

Like this thread? Get email updates or save it to PDF!

Subscribe to Ed Wilson
Profile picture

Get real-time email alerts when new unrolls are available from this author!

This content may be removed anytime!

Twitter may remove this content at anytime, convert it as a PDF, save and print for later use!

Try unrolling a thread yourself!

how to unroll video

1) Follow Thread Reader App on Twitter so you can easily mention us!

2) Go to a Twitter thread (series of Tweets by the same owner) and mention us with a keyword "unroll" @threadreaderapp unroll

You can practice here first or read more on our help page!

Related hashtags

#bbcaq

Related threads

Profile picture
Air boxing by top #UK officials is amazing. Who punching at? Unlike in London, #Brexit never been much fight in Brussels, more lament. When some urged penalty in financial settlement, EU ignored & just tabbed up #'s. Citizen rights a 2-way street. Other stuff mainly logistical..
Point again is not to take any side, but merely point out Brussels has had consistent principles, goals & negotiating positions from the start. London still has no consensus on final objective. No one I know in #EU has advocated for "no deal" but some in #UK actually do that...
Have had many many long conversations w/ top London colleagues. Am very conscious of all arguments & concerns on #UK side, incl over Northern Ireland. But even in no deal scenario, #UK will end up facing exact same choice on future relationship w/ EU as now, but w/o transition...
Read 4 tweets
Profile picture
001/ [article content in this tweet series 001-180 reproduced with permission from Martin Howe QC of Lawyers for Britain @lawyers4britain]
#quote "Leaving the EU on WTO terms: pulling down the barriers to world trade
Introduction: why prices will FALL after Brexit, not rise" /002
002/ #quote "Over the past couple of weeks, the media have been full of lurid scare stories about what will happen if the UK leaves the EU on WTO terms, because negotiations with the EU do not result in a withdrawal agreement." /003
#tariffs #NoDeal #Brexit #WTO #ProjectFear #shortages #food #medicines
003/ #quote "One of the most ridiculous and UNJUSTIFIED of these absurd scare stories is that it will lead to higher prices, and even shortages, of foods and medicines." /004
Read 180 tweets
Profile picture
.@WTODGAZEVEDO tells @BBCr4today he doesn't expect the UK will reach an agreement with all 164 @wto members on its proposed schedule rectification by March 2019:
“It is very unlikely that you’re going to have 100 per cent agreed outcome for all WTO members between now and March.”
@WTODGAZEVEDO @BBCr4today @wto .@WTODGAZEVEDO “The moment that other countries begin to sense an opportunity to increase their market share or increase a quota here or there, they are going to go for that."
ind.pn/2wb0dqV
@WTODGAZEVEDO @BBCr4today @wto .@WTODGAZEVEDO “It's not going to be the end of the world, in the sense that trade is going to stop and that everything is going to fall down, no. But it's not going to be a walk in the park either."
Read 3 tweets
Profile picture
This BrexitCentral article is an abridged version of an article posted by the same author on Lawyers for Britain. It's full of factual errors, but I don't have the time to go into them all.

Here's the original article by @lawyers4britain

lawyersforbritain.org/leaving-the-eu…
The wording of this paragraph has changed but it#s still wrong. The "maximum level of tariffs" are the bound tariffs. On July 24 the UK submitted it's MFN tariff schedule to the WTO, That's the rate that will be charged under the MFN principle.
Read 5 tweets
Profile picture
1/ A couple of misconceptions about Brexit and the WTO, including one just repeated on @mrjamesob program.

James quoted the length of time it took countries like Russia to join (Accede) to the WTO as an indicator of how difficult things will be for the UK. That's misleading.
2/ Countries join the WTO to gain MFN access into the markets of all WTO Members and to have a voice in shaping global trade rulemaking. To get in, they have to buy off every existing Member with liberalization commitments.

The UK is already a WTO Member.
3/ Accessions take a very long time because they cover every aspect of a Members current and future trade regime, and often require sweeping legal and regulatory changes.

The process often gets largely suspended for decades as governments put it in the 'too hard basket'.
Read 7 tweets
Profile picture
1/ Exciting! For those curious what this means:

A WTO Goods schedule lists maximum tariffs a country agrees it can charge.

A schedule is 'certified' by the @wto Director General only if there are no objections.

Note: A country **CAN** operate with an uncertified schedule.
2/ Will WTO Members agree to let this schedule be certified?

They may. By doing so however, they would be accepting everything in the schedule as a fair reflection of the UK's obligations post-Brexit.

More likely they'll at the least put certification on hold for a while.
3/ What will having an uncertified schedule mean in practice?

Not the end of the world. Two things.

1) An uncertified schedule makes it more likely someone is at least open to a WTO dispute against the UK where its new commitments fall short of the EU's overall commitments.
Read 4 tweets

Trending hashtags

#OIC #Turkey #trump #SAA #Turkish #manufacturers #Brexit #émeute #presidenttrump #type #Xi #cars #WERKforConsent #repatriation #Video #rights #FBR #MKUltra #Assad #Twitter #Iran #WTO #external #Italian #MFN

Did Thread Reader help you today?

Support us! We are indie developers!

This site is made by just three indie developers on a laptop doing marketing, support and development! Read more about the story.

Become a Premium Member and get exclusive features!

Premium member ($3.00/month or $30.00/year)

Too expensive? Make a small donation by buying us coffee ($5) or help with server cost ($10)

Donate via Paypal Become our Patreon

Thank you for your support!