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We need to make this absolutely clear to Remoaners or Rejoiners: EU membership prevented the UK from securing comprehensive trade deals. None of the dozens we've now signed could come into effect until we left the EU Customs Union and Single Market on 31 Dec 2020.
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We need to make this absolutely clear to Remoaners or Rejoiners: EU membership prevented the UK from securing comprehensive trade deals. None of the dozens we've now signed could come into effect until we left the EU Customs Union and Single Market on 31 Dec 2020.
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So, the first task was to roll over existing EU deals the UK had been party to — with countries such as South Korea, Mexico, Chile, Turkey, Ukraine & Israel and blocs such as the Andean group, C. America, Cariforum & SACU+M — tweaking to our advantage wherever possible.
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By 'tweaking', I mean lifting or even removing damaging EU quotas on any counterparty's exports to us. Where we're not threatened (e.g. on wine or orange imports from South Africa, for example) UK should not and will not now be hidebound by EU protectionist measures.
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Additionally, these new UK Continuity Trade deals have liberalised tariffs, removing previously damaging import taxes on products such as Vietnamese rice entering the UK or cutting tariffs on British machinery reaching Ghana (from 2023 onwards), for example.
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We've virtually completed that task. Only Algeria, Serbia, Bosnia/Herzegovina and Montenegro to go.
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Then secure an FTA with Japan. We did. Yes, it has
elements of a prior EU–Japan deal, but new clauses cover the digital economy, enhanced financial services access, improved GI access to Japan (70 guaranteed goods of origin, such as Welsh lamb, etc.) for our producers.
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elements of a prior EU–Japan deal, but new clauses cover the digital economy, enhanced financial services access, improved GI access to Japan (70 guaranteed goods of origin, such as Welsh lamb, etc.) for our producers.
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Now, the task is to secure membership of the huge trade bloc CPTPP, sign free trade deals with Australia and New Zealand, an enhanced trade partnership deal with India, and new bilateral comprehensive FTAs with Canada, Mexico and others. Maybe even an FTA with the USA.
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And? Well, numerous other markets — Brazil, Russia, Kazakhstan, Philippines, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Taiwan, Cambodia — want bilateral, comprehensive FTAs with us.
And we need to upgrade all those new rolled-over deals into bilateral comprehensive FTAs.
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And we need to upgrade all those new rolled-over deals into bilateral comprehensive FTAs.
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