UK cannot offset damage of Brexit with US deals

UK PM Boris Johnson’s drive towards a no-deal Brexit will inflict both short-term and long-term damages to the nation’s reputation with some of its biggest trading partners. This is while US President Donald Trump’s administration stated that once the Brexit deal comes to an end, he will be available to sign many trade deals with the UK.

As outlined in the UK Government publication of the Yellowhammer dossier, the immediate problems following a no deal Brexit would include riots on the streets, food price rises and reduced medical supplies in the UK. These troubles are expected to last at least three months.

However, the long-term impact of a no deal was rightly summed up in a quote from German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who referred to London as “the next Singapore-on-Thames”.

The UK insists on a clean break from an array of the bloc’s regulations, a policy choice from the new British government that has caused a chain reaction of panic in other EU capitals.

The EU is the UK’s largest trading partner, accounting for about half of all exports and imports.

Meanwhile, many businesses are evaluating the costs of continuing to do business with the UK, and the European Union is considering applying tariffs on goods following an impending no deal Brexit.

A group of the world’s leading business organizations, representing more than 4 million companies from eight countries, said they had “grave concerns” about the rising chance of a no-deal departure on 31 October.

And this is while the outgoing European Commission president, Jean-Claude Juncker, was quoted as calling the British “part-time Europeans” who never wanted to share all policies decided by the European Union.

“The British since the very beginning were part-time Europeans. What we need are full-time Europeans,” Juncker said. “The British were told for more than 40 years that they were in but they didn't want to share all the policies that have been decided,” he added.

Any possible trade deals with the Trump administration would not bring the economic bounties that Boris Johnson has touted.

A trade deal with the US provides the opportunity to marry cheap energy to cheap food, but American farmers can get very emotional about access to foreign markets, especially when they have put more time and effort into producing cheap food than probably anyone else in the world.