Wednesday, September 27, 2017

A glimpse of Trump's "beautiful" trade deal

Anyone from the Brexit side who had put their faith in a free trade deal with the USA must now be re-examining their position following the decision by Trump's government to bring in a massive tariff on Bombardier aircraft exports. Trump is a protectionist. When he talks of a "beautiful" trade deal with the UK following Brexit, he means it will be "beautiful" for the USA. After all, his campaign protectionist slogan is "Make America great again", not "Make America and Britain" great again. And what about the "special relationship" and Theresa May's hand-in-hand love-in with Trump? A fat lot of use that turned out to be.

The EU and US economies are vast. While the Brexiteers view Britain's position through Victorian glasses in which they see Britain as a gigantic, imperial power able to get its way simply by lifting a finger, the reality is that Britain is a medium power relative to the rest of the world and if we are not part of something bigger and stronger, we are going to be buffeted and knocked about. The Bombardier decision is just a glimpse of lots more to come outside the EU.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/govbeat/wp/2015/03/17/the-united-states-of-subsidies-the-biggest-corporate-winners-in-each-state/?utm_term=.9bab43e95ad0