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.
A core TKE objective is to stimulate informed discussion so we welcome comments on our commentary.
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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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In our post entitled Brexit and the Irish border issue dated 9 February 2018, we wrote: The Issue of Brexit and the Irish border – how to avoid creating some form of border within the island of Ireland – has emerged as one of the most difficult in the entire Brexit negotiation. Three and a […]
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Agreement at last After more than four years of seemingly interminable negotiation following the United Kingdom’s 2016 referendum decision to leave the European Union, the parties finally concluded a Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA) at the very last practicable moment, on Christmas Eve 2020. Ratification was rushed through both Houses of the UK Parliament on […]
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After long and arduous negotiations, the European Union and the United Kingdom signed a Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA) on 24 December 2020. The agreement establishes the basis for the relationship between the two parties from 1 January 2021 onwards. The TCA largely corresponds to what we projected close to 3 years ago, given the […]
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What could the election of Joseph R. Biden Jr. mean for US trade policy? Trade policy did not feature highly in the run up to the election (in contrast to 2016). And the immediate focus of the Biden administration is likely to be on dealing with Covid-19 and recovering from it. Its “Build back better” […]
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The UK took a first step in its post-Brexit Free Trade Agreement (FTA) agenda by signing the UK-Japan Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) on 23rd October. The UK government immediately proclaimed the deal ‘a historic Free Trade Agreement’. Although a detailed analysis will have to be carried based on the newly released legal text, we […]
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The clock continues to tick down one negotiations between UK and the EU. Bot parties are trying to bridge their differences in order to finalise an agreement on trade that will take effect from 31 December 2020, when the UK leaves the EU’s single market and common customs regime. “No deal” still remains a prospect, […]
Read more Brexit: Be careful what you wish for There now seems every likelihood that the United Kingdom and the European Union will fail to reach a formal and definitive agreement on future trade and economic relations to take effect from 1 January 2021. Thus at the end of the agreed “transition period” on December 31, […]
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With 30 June looming as the final deadline for any extension of the post-Brexit transition and negotiating period, the United Kingdom Government faces three massive tasks which are inextricably bound together. Each of which would on its own be an overriding priority for any government. These are: combating the SARS-CoV-2 virus (commonly referred to as […]
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The Covid 19 pandemic has had a severe impact on international trade . The WTO recently projected that global trade could fall in real terms by upto 20% in 2020. A modest recovery could take place in 2021, but this is heavily dependent on the future course of Covid 19, measures taken in response, and […]
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Introduction – a dialogue of opposites During the last week of February the European Union Council of Ministers formally endorsed the draft mandate which the European Commission had submitted, setting out objectives for a new long-term relationship with the United Kingdom. A few days later the UK Government published a White Paper specifying its own […]
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