Complementing the technical material in the Knowledge section, the TKE here delivers commentary on key trade issues. While you won't find comments on the breaking news of the day, you will find measured, analytical thoughts on important topics and the key issues under debate.
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There are four months to go until the European Union’s October 2018 deadline for finalisation of a Brexit withdrawal agreement which can be put to the member states for ratification, and nine months until March 29 2019 when the UK, according to its withdrawal notification, will cease to be a member state. Meanwhile the complexity […]
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Twenty-eight years after they last managed it, England have made the semi-final of football’s World Cup. England’s match against the then West Germany in Turin in July 1990, came in the middle of a tumultuous time for Europe. The Berlin wall had recently come down, and German reunification was on the horizon. This time round, […]
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What role can the UK carve out for itself in global trade policy after leaving the EU? It will be able to speak with an “independent” and “distinctive” voice, will relentlessly push the case for free trade and multilateralism, and will strive to ensure that everyone is able to access the benefits of trade. That, […]
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A new “People’s Vote”? Less than six months now remain until the legal date for Brexit of 29 March 2019. In the last few days there have been some more optimistic-sounding briefings on both sides of the Channel about the prospects for agreement, but these were quickly toned down. There is still no agreement, either […]
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Could the future relationship between the UK and the EU take on a Canadian flavour? That is the proposal put forward by Boris Johnson in the run up to the Conservative Party’s conference. In an article on 28 September, he called for a “SuperCanada” agreement as the model the UK and the EU should adopt […]
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Along with the Irish border, the question of free movement was one of the seemingly intractable questions at the recent EU summit in Salzburg. Put simply the EU does not want to convey the impression that it is possible for the UK – or any other member -to give up a commitment to this key […]
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The resolution of the Irish border question has been presented as one of the trickiest issues to resolve before the UK and the EU can reach agreement on the Withdrawal Agreement between the two. This was underscored at the recent informal EU Council summit at Salzburg, at which the UK described the European Commission’s approach […]
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At the end of its informal meeting held in Salzburg, the president of the EU Council announced that he would like to call a special summit for the weekend of 17/18 November 2018. Its aim would be to allow the EU and the UK to reach an agreement on the terms of the latter’s departure […]
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US and the Iran nuclear deal President Trump is reimposing the full range of United States economic and trade sanctions against Iran following his unilateral decision in May 2018 to pull the US out of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (the so-called Iran nuclear deal). That deal was reached with Iran in July 2015 […]
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On 24 July 2018 the United Kingdom submitted to the World Trade Organisation (WTO) draft new national schedules of tariffs and equivalent charges on UK imports of goods, to come into effect when the UK leaves the European Union. Their contents will become public in due course. For now they are confidential to WTO member […]
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Introduction The UK Government’s long-awaited White Paper setting out a negotiating position on post-Brexit trade and other relations with the European Union was published on July 12 2018. Previous Government statements on these issues mostly expressed generalised aspirations for the UK’s future relations with the Union and with other trade partners world-wide. The White Paper […]
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We present the main points discussed by Professor L Alan Winters, Lord O’Donnell and Amar Breckenridge at a Trade Knowledge Exchange Webinar on 20 July. A full recording of the session can be accessed here. 1. A grand political bargain The White Paper is a negotiating text in two ways. Firstly, it sets out the […]
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Throughout the Brexit process an eventual “No deal” situation has been held out to the public of the United Kingdom variously as a horror scenario or as a launch-pad for future national development. The prospects of a “No deal” outcome, and the conflicting views as to what it means, have been expressed with considerable force […]
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