Looks like we could be mates with the chinese if we Brexit.
While the US has placed punitive duty of 266 per cent on imports of some Chinese steel products, similar EU tariffs amount to just 21 per cent. Germany and France — along with the European Commission — had argued for punitive tariffs. They said they were one of the few ways of protecting jobs in Europe’s steel sector, where 20 per cent of jobs have disappeared since 2008, according to the European industry’s main lobby group. Today the sector employs 320,000 people across the bloc. However, critics of the proposal argued that extra EU anti-dumping measures ran the risk of triggering retaliatory moves from Beijing, which will soon be treated as a “market economy” in trade disputes at the World Trade Organisation. Britain had argued vociferously against the proposal for years. However the position led to a political dispute in the UK in March when 15,000 jobs were put at risk following Tata Steel’s decision to sell its business in Britain, leading to calls for protectionist measures to help save jobs. Officials from other European countries accused Britain of opposing the measures in part to improve relations with Beijing — a foreign policy goal under David Cameron’s former government. However British officials argued that other manufacturers, such as carmakers, benefited from cheap steel imports.
It looks like the UK have vetoed putting punitive tariffs on chinese steel,after Brexit we could be sitting close to Europe with nil tariffs and the EU,released from the shackles of the UK,with high tariffs.
Ok I dont see steel being smuggled across the channel but textiles and bicycles could. No wonder the EU doesnt want us to leave,aside from our contribution we could be a loose cannon trade wise,especially on the Irish border.
KudosDave
