Commentary

Ireland: Caught in the Toils Of Brexit

    In our post entitled Brexit and the Irish border issue dated 9 February 2018, we wrote: The Issue of Brexit and the Irish border – how to avoid creating some form of border within the island of Ireland – has emerged as one of the most difficult in the entire Brexit negotiation. Three and a […]

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    Reflections on the UK-EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement

      Agreement at last After more than four years of seemingly interminable negotiation following the United Kingdom’s 2016 referendum decision to leave the European Union, the parties finally concluded a Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA) at the very last practicable moment, on Christmas Eve 2020.  Ratification was rushed through both Houses of the UK Parliament on […]

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      Bridge over troubled waters? The EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement and the future of UK trade policy

        The EU flag and the UK flag. Post-Brexit Trade.

        After long and arduous negotiations, the European Union and the United Kingdom signed a Trade and Cooperation Agreement  (TCA) on 24 December 2020. The agreement establishes the basis for the relationship between the two parties from 1 January 2021 onwards. The TCA largely corresponds to what we projected  close to 3 years ago, given the […]

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        The Japan-UK Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) -running to stand still or stepping stone?

          The UK took a first step in its post-Brexit Free Trade Agreement (FTA) agenda by signing the UK-Japan Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) on 23rd October. The UK government immediately proclaimed the deal ‘a historic Free Trade Agreement’. Although a detailed analysis will have to be carried based on the newly released legal text, we […]

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          Brexit: Be careful what you wish for

            The EU flag and the UK flag. Post-Brexit Trade.

            Brexit: Be careful what you wish for   There now seems every likelihood that the United Kingdom and the European Union will fail to reach a formal and definitive agreement on future trade and economic relations to take effect from 1 January 2021.  Thus at the end of the agreed “transition period” on December 31, […]

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            The UK’s three way stretch: Covid-19, Europe and America

            Trade knowledge, trade knowedge exchange, trade compliance, trade tools, barriers to international trade, effects of tariffs, brexit trade, brexit trade deals, post brexit trade deals, post-brexit trade deals, brexit trade, brexit trade deals, trade after brexit, brexit trade agreements, brexit analysis, trade analysis,

            With 30 June looming as the final deadline for any extension of the post-Brexit transition and negotiating period, the United Kingdom Government faces three massive tasks which are inextricably bound together. Each of which would on its own be an overriding priority for any government. These are: combating the SARS-CoV-2 virus (commonly referred to as […]

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            Trade Policy Lessons from Covid 19

            The Covid 19 pandemic has had a severe impact on international trade . The WTO recently projected that global trade could fall in real terms by upto 20% in 2020. A modest recovery could take place in 2021, but this is heavily dependent on the future course of Covid 19, measures taken in response, and […]

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            EU-UK: The Chips Are Down

              International trade in goods, Trade services, Professional services brexit, brexit professional services, brexit network, trade expertise, trade expertise network, Trade knowledge, trade knowedge exchange, trade compliance, trade tools, barriers to international trade, effects of tariffs, brexit trade, brexit trade deals, post brexit trade deals, post-brexit trade deals, brexit trade, brexit trade deals, trade after brexit, brexit trade agreements, brexit analysis, trade analysis,

              Introduction – a dialogue of opposites During the last week of February the European Union Council of Ministers formally endorsed the draft mandate which the European Commission had submitted, setting out objectives for a new long-term relationship with the United Kingdom.  A few days later the UK Government published a White Paper specifying its own […]

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