The UK Should Learn from the EU’s Mistakes on Trade Protectionism

Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown MP | 15th April 2021 | Uncategorised

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An independent trade policy with an eye on Due Diligence will improve the UK's relations and diplomatic links with key strategic partners

We have recently seen the UK’s new post-Brexit trade powers in action. A deal between the UK and US governments has led to the withdrawal of tens of millions of pounds of damaging tariffs on UK products. Whisky, Cheese, and Beef will now resume their tariff-free (or low-tariff) status in exporting to the huge American market. The tariffs are leftovers of the pre-Brexit era. The remaining EU-27 member states still have selected exports to the US, subjected to the same tariffs. This is the essence of the UK ‘taking back control’: the ability to regulate, direct, and strike deals independently of Brussels, in the UK’s national interest. This deal was reached relatively easily; there was little opposition from lobby groups. However, bigger, sterner tests of the UK’s commitment to genuinely ‘leave’ the EU’s protectionist approach to trade remain. More specifically, non-tariff barriers (NTBs). These are the insidious enemies of free trade, the creeping regulations that make trade complex an...

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