Trade Boom Sitting In Boris Johnson's Lap!
More good news just in. It appears that Boris has an incredible free trade deal sitting on his lap which could not only compete with the EU, but also put pressure on the bloc to agree terms with the UK by the end of this year.
We have all heard EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen say that the EU is ‘’all set’’ for trade talks with us and is seeking ‘’a unique and unprecedented deal’’, but of course, it must include us accepting a “level playing field” on their rules and regulations to achieve the deal. Boris has rightly said an emphatic NO! Especially as no other third country as the EU likes to describe us, having to agree to the same for free trade. Cheeky beggers, expecting us to comply with rules on competition, subsidies, social protection and the environment. (They do try, don’t they?)
But the good news is that Alexander Downer, the former Minister for Foreign Affairs in Australia, claimed in the Spectator that one of the most attractive agreements right now
Is the Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP).
He explained: “The CPTPP is a high-quality free trade agreement which binds together Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Japan, Singapore, Vietnam, Mexico, Malaysia, Peru, Chile and Brunei.
The Bush and Obama administrations were also keen to participate in the CPTPP - indeed the negotiations were driven initially by the Americans - but President Trump decided to withdraw. Despite the Americans backing out, the other 11 members decided to proceed with the agreement.
“So the CPTPP covers nearly 14 percent of the global economy and is the third largest free trade area in the world.
Mr. Downer noted that Australia and Japan have already informally pledged their support for British membership and others are unlikely to raise major objections.
The only obstacle, he said, would be an intellectually irrelevant but geographically pertinent argument that the UK is not in the Asia-Pacific region.
He added: “If all CPTPP members were willing to accept the UK, negotiations would be swift. The agreement after all, could not be re-engineered for the UK”.
“CPTPP is comprehensive and its application in the UK would be uncontroversial. Tariff and non-tariff barriers between the UK and the other 11 members would largely disappear, investors would be protected from capricious policy changes by member governments which were in breach of the terms of the agreement. Environmental and labour standards would be maintained. And yes, no-one would attack the NHS”.
The agreement would then give the UK access to markets which constitute 13 percent of global GDP and would place the country in a fast-growing Asia-Pacific region.
According to former International Trade Secretary Liam Fox, Britain could strike the partnership by the end of 2021.
And the EU expects us to fall into line with their rules and regulations!!?? I don’t think so.
Do you?