Customs arrangements and post-Brexit trade policy: What are the options? Theresa May’s cabinet has met this week in another of its recurring “crunch meetings” on its future position vis a vis the EU. The main bone of contention is the question of customs arrangements. Theresa May has already ruled out continuing membership of the EU’s […]
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The emergence of global value chains (GVCs) and global public goods presents an opportunity for the World Trade Organization (WTO) to play a larger role in international regulatory cooperation. This paper identifies the circumstances and modalities where the WTO is most likely to be successful. First, it assesses the circumstances in which international regulatory cooperation is best […]
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Donald Trump’s decision to repudiate the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action agreed with Iran has not only precipitated a security crisis, it will also further ratchet up tensions in world trade. Trade is a fundamental part of the deal, for Iran, but also the European Union. In just two years, EU exports to Iran increased […]
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WTO membership and the European Union It is commonly (and loosely) said either that at the point of withdrawal from the European Union the United Kingdom will need to join the WTO as an independent member; or that the UK will resume its original WTO seat as an independent member. Neither proposition is strictly true. […]
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Originally international trade agreements were about reducing tariffs on trade in goods, but with growing globalisation and since the Tokyo Round Agreements in 1973 non-tariff issues such as standards, investment and employment rights have become equally, or more, important in negotiation both multilaterally and in regional associations.
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Guest author for the TKE and agricultural trade expert Chris Horseman writes about bananas and Brexit. This article contemplates what the UK might do about its external trade regime after Brexit, and uses the example of bananas to illustrate some of the challenges.
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The Long Kiss Goodnight: Negotiating the future relationship between the UK and the EU. Amar Breckenridge discusses the current state of affairs of UK-EU negotiations.
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Show me the Money: Prospects for United Kingdom and EU cooperation on Financial Services post-Brexit Draft Guidelines for the second phase of Brexit negotiations were submitted to the European Council on 7 March 2018, for adoption on 23 March. In them the EU lays down tight limits for negotiation of the UK’s withdrawal agreement and […]
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President Trump announced on 1 March that he would impose tariffs respectively of 25% and 10% on US imports of steel and aluminium. The backdrop to this dramatic action is of course the longstanding decline in US steel production, together with the sustained impact on world steel markets of Chinese overcapacity in the sector. The […]
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Theresa May’s latest major speech on the United Kingdom Government’s Brexit policy developed a pattern already established in her speeches delivered at Lancaster House, London and in Florence during 2017. Mrs. May was much criticised for the lack of practical detail in those earlier speeches about what the UK’s future trading relationship with the remaining […]
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