Trump has motivation to legitimize protectionist trade on the world scale. not that this means he'd give them the same deals they had under the EU, but i think any offers will be inflated for ideological reasons.

Butthurt Eu is the reason they'll likely get a worse trade deal. The UK will be better of negotiating with other parties

Congrats, UK.

another fraudulent hot-take from a chronic underachieving pale pasty privileged lefty

Nice!!!

Reality always wins.

You're right about leverage, but that's a very one-dimensional view on trade deals. Generally speaking, the more the strengths and weaknesses of the two sides complement each other, the more advantageous a trade deal can be for both sides. A small country with a well-defined economic profile like the UK might be able to find more fitting partners and negotiate agreements which are more tailored to its needs than a heterogeneous bloc like the EU.

To name an example for the complications that size can introduce in such negotiations, look at the EU-Mercosur trade agreement which was finalized in June 2019. Germany with its economy focused around industrial products was very keen on this trade deal because it would have opened up new sales markets for its cars, engines, pharmaceuticals etc. France, on the other hand, has a strong agricultural sector which feared increased competition from South American products under this agreement. So when the Amazon wildfires became a big international story, French president Macron used this as an excuse to give in to pressure from his country's farmers lobby and stall the ratification process. Then, in January 2020, Austria (which also has a stronger agricultural sector) officially vetoed the agreement and demanded renegotiations. Ireland has also voiced strong concerns, so the whole agreement seems dead in the water for the time being.


In the case of the UK specifically, they have to import a significant share of their food while Trump is desperately looking for a sales market that can replace China for his struggling farmers. So that's a good fit, and might be a good starting point for US-UK negotiations.

This post was edited by Black XistenZ on Jan 31 2020 01:49pm

Speaking from a totally selfish point of view, I'd like the countries in Europe to remain as the were... separate entities.
Europe with it's age and differences was the best tourist trap the world has ever seen.
One plane flight and you could get in vacations in 10-20 different countries. That's not really possible anywhere else.
I think that is Europe's strongest attraction to the rest of the world. I think that is what Europe should TRY to excel in. Go with your strengths.

I'm confused, you say they should be as they were, separate entities, but then go on to talk about an advantage that only exists because they have free movement of people under the EU. Can you clarify what you mean?


Well.... not totally impossible to still do a 20 country trip, but it's significantly easier because of the free travel.

This post was edited by Thor123422 on Jan 31 2020 02:36pm