Category Archives: Brexit

The fourth round of talks are taking place today, with the UK eager to have a pact wrapped up by Easter. Negotiations are set to ramp up as Britain eyes up finalising the treaty.

Ms Truss said this morning: "Fourth round trade talks start today with our great friends Australia.

"We want a deal that strengthens the global consensus for free trade, cuts tariffs for business and helps propel an exports-led, investment-led recovery across the UK."

Australia's High Commissioner to the UK said a deal would be "an early dividend for global Britain".

George Brandis added: "Getting a deal done will help jobs come back, the economy to grow and strengthen both our nations."

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The pact is seeking to slash tariff barriers in trade making it more appealing for British firms to do business with Australia, while also cheapening imports to the UK from Down Under.

The Government believes tariffs could be cut by as much as 50 percent under the negotiated deal.

Total trade between the UK and EU is already worth over 17billion a year.

An extra 500million could be added to that total once an agreement is complete.

Agreeing a free trade deal with Australia is one of Britain's top trade priorities alongside securing pacts with the United States, New Zealand, and joining the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP).

Trade talks with New Zealand are thought to be progressing at speed and could even be completed before negotiations with Australia.

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"There is a race between Australia and New Zealand," a senior Department of International Trade official said last month.

"They should both be around Easter, maybe earlier if it goes well."

Speaking to City AM, the official said negotiations with New Zealand and Australia were "neck and neck".

Vast progress has also been made on the UK's accession to the CPTPP.

Earlier this month Ms Truss formally submitted Britain's application to join the bloc.

The free trade agreement is made up of 11 counters centred around the Pacific Rim.

Canada, Mexico, Peru, Chile, New Zealand, Australia, Brunei, Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam and Japan are all members of the trade pact.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson said: "Applying to be the first new country to join the CPTPP demonstrates our ambition to do business on the best terms with our friends and partners all over the world and be an enthusiastic champion of global free trade."

Agreeing a trade deal is the US is likely to take much longer to achieve.

Last year US President Joe Biden said he would focus on America's recovery from the pandemic before signing any free trade deals.

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Brexit wonderwoman Liz Truss nears ANOTHER Brexit deal - 17.5bn on line in talks today - Daily Express

2021 brought about the end of the Brexit transition period, finally confirming the UKs exit from the EU. The changes also affected companies operating in the financial markets, including the retail FX/CFD sector, brokers, and their clients. Market experts wonder which jurisdiction can take over from the city of London as the trading capital in Europe and the most common bets include Cyprus, Malta, Germany, and France, but CEE countries may further benefit due to their low costs of managing a business.

In the latest edition of the Quarterly Intelligence Report,Finance Magnates Intelligenceexamines which representatives of brokerage firms directly involved in European operations think about the changes that may await the market as the Brexit transition period ends.

According to the survey, industry experts believe Cyprus, which is already the leading and most popular licensing jurisdiction for brokers looking to locate in Continental Europe, stands to gain the most from the changes (35%).Exactly 24% of respondents believe that Malta will take over a large part of the brokerage business, followed by Germany (16%) and France (13%). The last piece of the brokerage pie is expected to be filled by the CEE market, with Poland, among others being mentioned. In contrast to other EU countries, Poland offers an additional category of retail clients with a higher price-to-book ratio.

I do believe Cyprus and Malta have a lot of potentials; however, it all comes down to the fine balance between protecting client interests and leaving some freedom to the brokers. Whoever does this best, ultimately wins, Natalia Zakharova, Head of Sales at FXOpen, said.

Commenting on the possible end of Londons dominance, Graeme Watkins, CEO at Valutrades Limited, said: I dont think this is the case at all. London has 200 years of history as a financial center. Having a UK FCA license and offices in London is still a sign of credibility that is valued in many parts of the world, not just Europe. Brokers will indeed move some of their business to Europe, but so far I have not seen anyone closing down their UK entities, and I believe the interest is still to have both the UK and European license.

FBS Celebrates its 12th Anniversary and Fulfils Your DreamGo to article >>

Londons weakening position in the FX market trading was confirmed, among others, by the triennial report published in August 2020 by the Bank of England. Daily foreign exchange trading volumes in London have shrunk by 16 percent from the prior year to $2.41 trillion in April 2020. The decline in the average daily volume in the city was broad-based and was reported across almost all currency pairs, instrument types, counterparty types, and execution methods.

Regardless of location decisions and regulatory changes, due to the lack of passporting, the coronavirus volatility that fuelled record volumes and broker profits last year should continue into 2021.

To get the full article and the bigger-picture on the post Brexit EU industry, get our latest Quarterly Intelligence Report.

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Post-Brexit World. Which EU Country Will Become the New CFD Capital? - Finance Magnates

For British pig farmers like Simon Watchorn, the start of 2021 has brought fresh problems after a pandemic-ridden 2020.

Reuters reports that British pork producers have seen their profits eroded by COVID-19 and an outbreak of deadly African swine fever (ASF) in Germany, and are now having also to deal with Brexit red tape that has hammered exports and hurt demand from key buyers such as German sausage makers.

Pig prices, especially for sows, are tumbling just as feed costs soar.

"We've got expensive feed, ASF, COVID, and now we're struggling to send stuff abroad. People have fallen into the red. If the situation doesn't change they'll be shutting shop," said Watchorn, who is based in Norfolk, eastern England.

Pigs remaining on his farm have grown overweight and some have lost up to half their value since COVID-19 disrupted meat processing last year.

This year, Watchorn said Britain's exports to the European Union have been so disrupted following the country's exit from the EU's single market and customs union on 31 December that he no longer discusses price when sending older female pigs, known as cull sows, to slaughter.

"We said we'll sort the price out later, it was just about (the abattoir) taking them," said Watchorn.

About 90% of Britain's cull sows go to Germany to be processed into sausages, patties, salami and other cured meats.

Government data show 862,000 UK pigs were slaughtered in January, down 10% from the same month last year, while sows and boars saw a steeper 29% decline to 14,000.

With Britain's EU meat exports currently at just 50% of normal levels, prices in the heavily export-dependant sow market have slumped by almost two thirds since last summer, only just covering the cost of sending sows to slaughter.

Meanwhile, ASF has been sweeping across the globe, decimating the hog herd in China, the world's top pork producer, and it reached Germany in September last year.

China and other Asian countries banned German pig imports in response, leaving Europe with excess supplies and falling prices.

In a poll of 69 members of the National Pig Association (NPA) conducted last month, more than 80% said they are, or expect to be, in a loss-making position this quarter.

Prices for animal feed grade wheat in Britain are up 80%, year-on-year, data from the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB) shows, while UK pig prices are at 1-1/2 year lows as farmers struggle to compete with cheap EU pork imports.

EU pig prices are at four-year lows and its cheap pork products are flowing into Britain uninterrupted because UK authorities are phasing in customs checks on EU products over six months rather than imposing them immediately from 1 January.

A German meatpacker told Reuters German pork exports to the UK are flowing smoothly and even increasing, as British customs authorities are "waving the imports through without fuss".

Some trucks are returning to the continent empty in order to bring the next EU load to Britain without delay.

"It's especially galling that imports are flowing in freely. We dont mind a level playing field, but this isnt level or fair," said Richard Lister, a pig farmer from Yorkshire, north England.

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Two global pandemics and Brexit leave the UK's pig sector in jeopardy - The Pig Site

The world's largest daffodil farm, which is based in Cornwall, is being forced to let hundreds of thousands of pounds worth of flowers rot after encountering troubles hiringstaff sinceBrexit.

Varfell Farms, at Long Rock, Penzance, produces500 million stems a year and needs 700 workers to pick them.

However, since Covid and the end of free movement following Brexit, the business only has around 400 flower pickers.

Business owner Alex Newey told Radio 4's The World This Weekend that flowers are rotting asa result.

"We cant harvest them, we dont have enough pickers to pick them. Were losing hundreds of thousands of pounds."

Hopes that Cornish workers could step into the shoes of those who are now unable to travel from the European Union have been dashed.

"We have significant recruitment drives for local workers to come and harvest crops," added Newey. "Its idealistic to think that because of Covid and the higher than usual unemployment rates that those people would come in and do that work.

"I would say that a daffodil harvester is to be highly respected because the work is very hard. Youre out in the cold weather, its in Cornwall, it blows pretty hard down there. Its wet and youre bending over picking daffodils for three months.

"Frankly, the people that weve had to come and do this work, the locals, may last a day or two days, but they certainly dont last two or three months."

A scheme to attract seasonal workers from other parts of the world does not currently include flower picking as part of its remit.

Newey said: "The seasonal worker pilot scheme will allow workers from outside of the EU thats the important bit, outside the EU under a visa scheme to come in and harvest food crops. There are significant pools of available workers from places such as the Ukraine, Moldova and further afield in South America.

"But for the time being thats only for edible crops. It does not include ornamental crops. By definition, flowers are excluded from that."

Newey has raised his concerns with the government.

The industry annually contributes 150 million to the UK economy, a member of the company has confirmed.

He said the farm suppliesdaffodils to all UK supermarkets as well as exporting them to Europe, the USA and Dubai.

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Brexit sees daffodils at world's largest farm forced to rot - The New European

The Cayman Islands has seen the best and worst since Brexit with the European Union tax blacklisting of Cayman and strong ongoing support from the UK government during the coronavirus pandemic, according Eric Bush, chief officer in the Ministry of International Trade, Aviation and Maritime Affairs.

Speaking on Friday at a Caribbean Council webinar on What does Brexit mean for trade and development in the UK Overseas Territories?, Bush said he believes the UK is strengthening its position in the world and that will bring the UK and the Overseas Territories closer together.

In Cayman, he said, We have seen a strengthening of the relationship, even prior to Brexit.

But the UKs exit from the European Union had both positive and negative effects.

Bush said the EUs unjustified tax blacklisting of Cayman in February 2020 was the absolute worst.

Although Cayman was removed from the list of uncooperative jurisdictions in tax matters eight months later, a European Parliament resolution passed earlier this year has called for a change in the blacklist criteria to specifically target zero-tax jurisdictions like the Cayman Islands.

Bush said the best, in turn, came in the form of the UK supporting Cayman with medical expertise, expert guidance on how to fight the pandemic and ultimately by supplying the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.

In addition, the UK partnership, and specifically the Governors Office, helped maintain an airbridge between Cayman and the rest of the world through British Airways flights to London.

Now that the UKs resources are no longer focussed on the exit from the EU, there is an opportunity for the UK, Bush said, to really harness the individual and collective strengths of each overseas territory as a part of the British family and truly become a strength for good in the world.

Chris Duggan, vice president of business development at Dart Real Estate, described the Brexit impact as neutral, given that the Overseas Territories were never part of the EU and there was no Cayman exit from any EU arrangements. The Overseas Territories, likewise, never enjoyed the benefits of EU membership in terms of the free movement of goods, services and people.

As a result, he said, there was no fundamental change.

Duggan said British influence in the EU has been waning for years, which meant that even before Brexit, it did not have the standing to advocate on behalf of the Cayman Islands as it had done in the past.

However, this is even more the case today.

To the extent that Brexit will cause increased scrutiny of of tax neutral jurisdictions whether it will or whether it wont remains to be seen but to the extent that it does, it is obviously going to continue to put a lot of pressure on the British Overseas Territories, Duggan said.

For the financial services industry, Duggan noted, the recent move by Morgan Stanley to shift business presence from London to Frankfurt was a redrawing of the lines to the detriment of the UK.

With more high-profile moves likely to follow, the UK would be forced to look elsewhere.

I think as a result of that, the financial services nexus between the UK and the Cayman Islands will actually benefit and therefore ties will be strengthened, Duggan said.

Speaking about his own organisation, he added that Brexit has had no impact on investment decisions.

I certainly dont see the Brexit impacting Ken [Dart]s commitment to the Cayman Islands and by extension, other like-minded individuals, families, family offices and investors that are looking to invest in in the Cayman Islands; or, to be honest, any other British Overseas Territory, he said. I dont see Brexit materially impacting their decisions in any way, shape or form at all.

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Mixed Brexit impact on the Overseas Territories - Cayman Compass

Dutch socialist Kati Piri told an online event that the European Parliament has everything in place to ratify the UK-EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement this week. The process is currently held up because the European Council and Commission are still translating the 1,246-page treaty into the blocs more than 20 official languages. Eurocrats were meant to have completed this task before February 28, a deadline agreed with the UK, so MEPs could cast the deciding vote to greenlight the future relationship pact.

But they have applied to Britain for an extension amid fears that the legal document wont be ready in all of the EUs languages before April 30.

Ms Piri told reporters that she would be less diplomatic in reviewing the current hold-up.

She added: We are ready to vote.

The European Parliament has finalised the scrutiny process with 16 opinion-giving committeesin the lead with the international trade and foreign affairs committees, we have everything prepared to go to a vote.

If we need to, we could still do it this week but we are waiting for the official referral from the Council.

Despite playing a leading role in the EU Parliaments scrutiny of the Brexit trade treaty, Ms Piri may miss the vote as she is contesting the Dutch national elections on March 17.

I am not even sure I can vote on the report on which we have been working on for almost a year, she said.

German MEP David McAllister, the EU Parliaments Brexit co-ordinator, said the Commission had put in a request to extend provisional application of the treaty until April 30.

This means both sides would still benefit from zero-tariff, zero-quota trade despite the pact not being fully legally ratified.

Mr McAllister added: This is a legal requirement that would ensure that all authentic linguistic versions are available before the agreement is formally concluded.

The decision on whether to allow the EUs extension request will be taken by Cabinet Office Minister Michael Gove, who remains in interim charge of the Partnership Council until Lord Frost, the Prime Ministers chief negotiator, takes over on March 1.

The Peer has previously questioned why Brussels should be given extra time to complete the process.

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The DUP and other unionist politicians issued the action in response to trade disruptions between the region and mainland Britain.

In response, a Commission spokesman said: We are fully committed to the Good Friday Belfast Agreement and to the proper implementation of the protocol on Ireland and Northern Ireland protecting the gains of the peace process, protecting and maintaining stability and avoiding a hard border on the island of Ireland.

EU and UK officials are due to meet this week to discuss potential solutions for ending the tensions in the region.

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MEP breaks ranks and hits out at dithering eurocrats over delay to crunch Brexit vote - Daily Express

The UK has a 5/1 chance of rejoining the EU by 2026 due to growing frustrations with Brexit.

Bookmakers Betfair have increased the odds on theUK seeking to rejoin the EU in five yearsas theimpacts of leaving the bloc take a toll oneveryday lives - from job loses to difficulties with travelling and working abroad.

It followsDowning Street's attempts to downplay claims from businesses and fishermen that the deal has damaged their exports and impacted key sectors.

"It might fall to a new generation of politicians, in both main parties, to have the honest conversation about Brexit that's so far failed to materialise," Betfair claimed.

"Getting that done in time for 2026 looks tight. But five years is a long time - think how much has happened in UK politics since 2016 - and the market on the UK rejoining is worth watching."

MORE:Campaign urges Brits to declare themselves 'European' on 2021 census

The bookies arenow giving odds of 5/1 of the UK rejoining by 2026 and 1/10 for it remaining outside.

Betfair also gavethe Tories a 11/5 chance of winning a majority in the next general election, on the caveat that the vaccine rollout continues to prove a success.It gave Labour a 3/1,and 16/5 chance of gaining a majority and a 6/5 chance no overall majority would be reached.

It also predictsthat Brexit will remain the biggest factor during 2024 election campaign, giving it 4/11 odds.

"Perhaps Brexit will be the biggest factor at the next election...just as it was at the last. It's not going away and will continue to cause problems for both main parties. It remains to be seen which will suffer most and whether anyone will have the guts to advocate reversing it."

Last week a reportby several Conservatives last week that said Brexit had left the UK "less safe and less secure" and called for Boris Johnson to re-open negotiations with the EU.

Dominic Grieve andDavid Lidington, a former attorney general and de facto deputy prime minister respectively, led the calls.

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UK at 5/1 odds of re-joining EU by 2026 as Brexit reality hits home - The New European

It has emerged the Crown Dependency, which is not part of the UK but often aligns policies and agreements, have had individual discussions with Brussels counterparts regarding fishing.The move has been branded petty and "indefensible" by Environment Secretary George Eustice.

Chief Minister Howard Quayle said any EU vessel that wishes to fish in UK waters in the future will have to prove a track record of fishing in Manx Waters in order to get a licence.

Under the new rules, EU vessels would have to prove a track record of 10 days fishing in any of the three 12-month periods prior to January 2020.

The British Crown Dependency also maintains the right to set its own catch limits and conservation measures for certain fisheries including scallops.

Island fish producers will also be able to import their products to the EU without facing tariffs, which is worth around 20million a year.

UK-registered vessels are already licensed and regulated by the Isle of Man government.

Mr Quayle said the subject of fishing had caused much debate and emotion on the Island.

Speaking in the Tynwald, the Chief Minister said the EU had demanded access to Manx waters stressing without access for bloc vessels, there would be difficulty exporting island goods.

He added: I know that some people would have wanted a future where no foreign vessels were able to fish in our waters.

READ MORE:Vaccine passport bombshell: Pubs could be off limits without a jab

But Dr David Beard, chief executive of the Manx Fish Producers Organisation, expressed concerns at the huge amounts of paperwork required to export to the EU.

He said: We are having to spend far more money on paperwork than we did before.

The key is that there is still no hospitality market for our products so it is still going through supermarkets or through other retail and obviously the volume of sales has dropped off mainly because of Covid.

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Brexit rebellion: Isle of Man goes rogue on fishing EU ships welcomed in 'petty' move - Daily Express

Ministers have announced a Memorandum of Understanding agreement which will boost bilateral trade and economic relations with Brazil. The deal will help to open up the country to the UK with trade officials hailing it as an Amazonian Brexit boost.

Initially, under the agreement, a forum for debates related to the interests of both countries will be established which includes "developing trade agreements for the future", Whitehall officials toldExpress.co.uk.

Bilateral consultations on issues related to trade in agricultural goods will also take place through a Joint Agriculture Committee (CCA) to cut red tape on exports such as Beef.

Trade between both countries is worth 6billion a year whilst Brazilian agribusiness exports to the United Kingdom are worth 710million a year.

Tereza Cristina, Brazils Minister of Agriculture, who struck the agreement with Environment Secretary George Eustice said: We have a lot of things to change.

We are very interested in this partnership, but we have to have the balance so that we can walk more and more together."

Ms Cristina stressed the joint committee's objective was to reduce bureaucracy and speed up trade interactions between the two countries.

She continued We expect that, over time, without abandoning its high standards, the UK, in its technical standards, will become more aligned with international rules, closer to science-based approaches.

A Defra spokesperson, said: Creating the Joint Agriculture Committee reinforces our commitment to support and develop agribusiness - and will facilitate discussion and collaboration between the two countries on sustainable agricultural and food trade issues.

READ MORE:Vaccine passport bombshell: Pubs could be off limits without a jab

Financial sector development, higher education provision, taxation issues and intellectual property protection were also talked about.

Robert Dickson, British High Commissioner to Bangladesh, said: The UK is committed to working with Bangladesh to create a trade and investment relationship that helps both of our economies grow. Foreign Investment can provide jobs, transfer skills and generate revenue.

A conducive business environment and removal of market access barriers can benefit both countries.

Dr Jafar Uddin, Secretary of the Ministry of Commerce for Bangladesh, said: This dialogue will pave the way for our products, services and professionals to penetrate the UK market and contribute to increased investment in Bangladesh and expand our exports.

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Here we go! UK hails 'Amazonian Brexit boost' from bumper 6billion Brazilian trade deal - Daily Express

Liz Truss was in India earlier this month, preparing the ground for a visit by Boris Johnson. The unstoppable Yorkshirewoman has concluded trade agreements with 64 states over the past two years not counting the deal with the EU itself and is currently negotiating with Australia andNew Zealand, exploring talks with the Gulf states and Mercosur, and applying to join the Pacific trade nexus, the CPTPP. But India is in a special category economically, geopolitically and, yes, sentimentally.

Lets start with the economics. For the first half century after independence, India was a largely closed economy. That stylised blue wheel in the middle of its flag, the chakra? It evolved from the spinning wheel in the Congress Party banner. For Gandhi, independence was bound up with the idea of making cloth from traditional handlooms rather than importing textiles from Lancashire. For decades afterwards, partly because of Gandhis status, self-rule and self-sufficiency were treated as inextricable.

Only at the end of the twentieth century did India begin to open up starting with countries in its immediate vicinity. It has since signed trade deals with Japan and ASEAN, but not with any Western state. Britain, consequently, was barely affected by the growth that followed from Indias liberalisation. Since the year 2000, our share of Indias imported goods has fallen from 6 to 1.3 per cent, and of services from 11 to 2.1 per cent.

Yet if any Western country is positioned to have a mutually beneficial trade deal with India, it is surely the UK, home to 1.5 million people of Indian descent. Many of our most successful entrepreneurs are of Indian background, and British brands from Jaguar cars to Tetley tea have attracted Indian buyers. We might think of JCB as the quintessential British firm dependable, patriotic, the first company that many little boys put a name to. But many Indians think of it rather in the way that they think of cricket as an Indian institution that happens, almost accidentally, to have originated in Britain.

Removing tariffs will bring benefits both ways. Gandhi would be astonished to learn that it is now Indian textiles that are hit by tariffs as they enter the UK 9.6 per cent on mens shirts, for example. Whisky, meanwhile, attracts an almost unbelievable 150 per cent tariff when sold to India. But, though tariff reduction is always and everywhere desirable, the bigger gains will be in the liberalisation of legal and financial services, facilitated investment and the mutual recognition of qualifications. Tech, coding and engineering are among the many instances of where our economies are naturally complementary.

That complementarity derives, ultimately, from the fact that India, like Britain, is an Anglophone, common law, parliamentary nation which might just prove the single most important geopolitical fact of the twenty-first century.

The pandemic has accelerated the shift in power from the West to China the only major economy that is significantly larger than it was a year ago. Whether that shift also means a more authoritarian world depends largely on whether India self-defines primarily as an English-speaking democracy or as an Asian superpower.

Boris Johnson, whose children are partly of Indian descent, understands the subtleties better than any other leader, and wisely wants to turn the G7 bloc into a D10 (D for democracies) by adding India, Australia and South Korea.

It is true that Britains relationship with India was not always easy, and the intellectual currents that have led to statue-smashing here are felt, too, on the subcontinent. Yet there is also an unmistakeable affinity and affection between the two countries an affection that the free world may yet have cause to appreciate.

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A trade deal with India is the great Brexit prize that could determine the Wests fate - Telegraph.co.uk