ChatterBank0 min ago
So Much For That Super Us Trade Deal
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“EU/USA annual trade is over 1 trillion euros; it’s not like they don’t sell any goods and services to each other – the USA is by far the largest EU trading partner.”
Which thankfully proves my point perfectly. The EU has no trading agreement with the USA and is never likely to have one. Yet high levels of trade take place between the US and individual EU nations. Similarly the UK has no agreement (and, IMO, is never likely to) yet high levels of trade takes place between them. Trading occurs despite political interferance, not because of it.
Total trade in goods and services (exports plus imports) between the UK and United States was £310.0 billion in the year ended Q2 2023. Total UK exports to United States amounted to £188.5 billion and total imports from United States amounted to £121.5 billion (so leaving the UK with a surplus of £67bn).
Of course it’s always handy to be able to amalgamate the figures from 27 countries to provide an “EU” figure and use that as a comparison. But of course to compare trade between the EU and the USA with that between the UK and the USA is completely inappropriate. Instead it may be more apt to compare the trade done between the EU’s largest economy (Germany) and the USA. In the twelve months to October 2023 Germany’s exports to the USA ran at £204bn and imports from the USA were £96bn, leaving a trading surplus of £108bn with that country.
Considering the German economy is about 35% larger than that of the UK, Germany's figures are not too disparate from ours. However, no other EU country gets remotely close to those figures. Of the other large EU economies, exports from France to the US amount to about £68bn, Italy £80bn and the Netherlands £40bn. Interestingly, when researching the official figures from the US government, I find they make no mention of the “EU” and all their numbers are assigned to individual European nations.
All this trade is achieved without any sort of trading agreement whatsoever and only one individual EU nation does more trade with the USA than the UK.
We need permission of the unelected EUSSR and had to trade using terms and conditions set by them.
yup, brexiters were warneda t the time, that there would STILL be rules they (we) had to adhere to that we had no input to
Boris - aah bless - spoke about oven ready chickens.
(cameron talked abot boiled pigs' heads)
“NJ - So what you have come to realise is that whether we were in or out of the EU, we were free to trade with any other nation;…”
Not with any other nation. Only with nations with which the EU had not concluded a trade deal on our behalf (whether it suited us or not). If we wanted to trade with any with whom they had made such arrangements, we had to trade on the terms the EU had negotiated for us. These terms, of course, had to apply to all 28 members and very often everybody got what (almost) nobody wanted (apart from one or two, which usually didn't include the UK). And I haven’t just ”come to realise it” - I’ve known of it for more than 30 years and it is just one (among very many) of the reasons why I voted to leave and I’m glad we’re out.
“…by leaving the EU we’ve just screwed our trading relationship with our nearest and largest trading bloc (at great economic cost).”
But we still trade with the EU. The fact that they’ve made it more cumbersome is their privilege. But when you’re dealing with a bloc whose principle aim is to protect its members from competition from both the rest of the world and from each other (whether they want such protection or not) it’s hardly surprising.
You seem to have grasped the wrong end of the stick Peter. In the UK we are well aware to export to another nation the other nation needs to approve the standard of the goods. Brexiteers certainly always knew that. The trouble is with the Johnny Foreigner nations trying to force their standards onto goods they want to send to the UK, or worse, trying to make any agreement dependent on their non-trade issue demands. So I don't know who you were warning, but apparently those who needed to know weren't heeding your advice.
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