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Sam Lowe
@SamuelMarcLowe
, 4 tweets, 1 min read Read on Twitter
To my knowledge, the EU has more free trade agreements than any other country/bloc. And it has concluded quite a few recently.
And sure, Canada and Japan FTAs haven’t made their way through the ratification process, but they are provisionally in place. So what more do you want.
The thing is, I get that people don’t like the EU. And there are quite a few things to point at. I just don’t understand why people create completely false narratives to justify their dislike.
Sorry, correction : Trade element of EU-Japan is fully in force (not provisionally applied).
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More from @SamuelMarcLowe see all

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Sam Lowe
@SamuelMarcLowe
I refuse to believe any of the people waffling on about paragraph 5b have read and/or understood it.

Here you go.
In summary: when two countries (or more) form a free trade agreement tariffs and trade barriers facing countries not party to the free trade agreement should not be higher than they were before the FTA existed.

What this has to do with saving us in event of no-deal is beyond me.
No one other than mega trade nerds (for whom all hope is already lost) should have ever even heard of GATT 24.
Read 3 tweets
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Sam Lowe
@SamuelMarcLowe
I think assumption that, in the event of no-deal, UK would quickly return to the negotiating table with tail between its legs shortly after is overplayed. Could see UK first doubling down and attempting to pivot towards the US and Trump.
A FTA w/ US always difficult for UK b'cos of public sensibilities (British public v European when it comes to food), but in event of no-deal an FTA w/ the US could be presented as an economic life-raft, providing political cover government needs to concede to US demands.
Despite not being the case (not even close), public assume economic losses of Brexit can be offset by trade agreement with US. So certainly possible. And costs of divergence from EU will already have been felt, so additional cost of conceding to US demands comparatively small.
Read 6 tweets
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Sam Lowe
@SamuelMarcLowe
Timely piece by @MESandbu.

On enforceability point: argument often made that US model, which technically allows for environmental provisions to be enforced by state-to-state mechanism, may look good, but in practice no evidence of it being used successfully, but ...
@MESandbu in reality it depends on how the text is drafted. @ChadBown has made the point that reason US-Guatemala case failed is b'cos it required US to prove not only that Guatemala wasn't upholding labour commitments, but also that doing so was having material impact on trade ...
@MESandbu @ChadBown which is very difficult to prove. But that doesn’t mean having enforceable provisions destined to fail, it just means that if you want them to work the legal text needs to be drafted differently.
Read 4 tweets

Related threads

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Peter Ungphakorn
@CoppetainPU
1. Either

a. The UK trades with all, including the EU, under WTO rules—that's a fact

Or

b. The UK has free trade agreements with the EU, Norway, Iceland, Switzerland, Japan, Canada, S Korea and dozens more

And

The US and China also have FTAs with neighbours and many others
2. Here are China's free trade agreements. Note how many are with China's neighbours in the Asia-Pacific region.

No one trades only on basic WTO terms, and trade agreements with neighbours matter.

fta.mofcom.gov.cn/english/index.… List of China's free trade agreementsLists of China's free trade agreements under negotiation or consideration
3. And here's the list of US free trade agreements. Note how many are with neighbours or near neighbours. The biggest is NAFTA/USCMA with Canada and Mexico

No one trades only on basic WTO terms. For the US trade with neighbours matters immensely.

/ends

ustr.gov/trade-agreemen… List of US free trade agreements
Read 4 tweets
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Jim Cornelius🇪🇺🇬🇧 🇮🇪🔶
@Jim_Cornelius
Hi @BBCChrisMorris I just saw your @BBCRealityCheck report on the Customs Union just now on the @BBCNews channel. It dismays me somewhat that some viewers might be left with a false impression from a lack of context regarding access to the Customs Union.
In particular, this section where you state ".. but when goods enter the Customs Union from the rest of the world there is a common charge known as a tariff"

Some viewers might imply from this that ALL goods from ALL countries face a tariff when as you know, that's not the case.
The graphic, in particular, gives the impression that the Customs Union represents the construction of an external wall to trade when the reality is that is was the dismantling of the existing internal walls between member states.
Read 9 tweets
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Penny Midas Rollo
@PennyMidasRollo
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
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David Henig
@DavidHenigUK
Very disappointed that as evidenced by his latest article @GregHands has gone into full-on disregard the facts mode on Brexit and trade, influenced I suspect by those at the IEA who have different approaches on trade to most specialists 1/ brexitcentral.com/efta-option-fa…
This paragraph is actually insulting towards EFTA countries, as well as being factually incorrect. Bilateral FTAs have been steadily deepening over time, and EFTA's most recent agreements cover plenty besides 'relatively minor tariff adjustments'
Here is the content list from a recent EFTA trade agreement. A bit more than tariffs, such as the services which are supposed to become a priority for the UK? But there is a clue in the article to what is not there - regulations... 3/
Read 11 tweets
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Julie Laumann 🌎
@Otpor17
"Trump has used Harley-Davidson as an example of a US business that is being harmed by trade barriers. Yet Harley has warned consistently against tariffs, saying they would negatively impact sales"

Harley, hit by tariffs, shifts some production overseas apnews.com/6c8942f7363743…
Important issue highlighted by @riotwomennn: are tariff exemptions determined by bribes?

Corker: "22,000 companies have asked for exemptions.There is no basis to deal with them. Are they going to grant these exclusions based on political contributions?"
Trump’s trade war with the European Union is going to cost Harley-Davidson as much as $100 million a year and force the manufacturer to shift production out of the U.S. bloomberg.com/news/articles/…
Read 232 tweets
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Chootchy Face
@chootchyface
Theresa May must tell UK customs union costs

Being inside the customs union costs Britain billions of pounds each year

UK shoppers overpay for non-European imports due to common external tariffs protecting inefficient producers elsewhere in the EU👇

telegraph.co.uk/business/2018/…
Four fifths of these revenues go to Brussels

They’re particularly steep on clothing, food and footwear, hitting poorer UK shoppers hardest – which is unfair

To divert money we send the EU to the NHS instead we must be outside the customs union

Stick that on the side of a bus👇
Staying in the customs union means charging EU tariffs with no say in setting them – the “vassal state” argument

This is the ghastly deal foisted on Turkey – an unproven partner state trying to join the EU

Britain is not Turkey – Brussels is trying to keep us and our money in👇
Read 16 tweets

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