Slashing tariffs won't redeem a no-deal Brexit
Tariffs tend to hurt the country imposing them as much as they hurt its trading partners
Fast-forward past next week’s critical Brexit votes in the U.K. parliament. If Britain ends up leaving the European Union without a deal, it will have to set its own independent trade policy for the first time in a generation. How would it mitigate the trade frictions it will face outside the bloc? Brexit supporters have a beguiling answer: eliminate all tariffs unilaterally. Some, including a former Australian prime minister, even suggest this could make leaving the European Union a net positive for the UK economy. Expect to hear a lot more of these arguments if Prime Minister Theresa May’s deal is rejected next week. There are good economic reasons for removing tariff barriers unilaterally. If Britain leaves without a deal, it should seriously consider doing so; amid the ensuing chaos, it would be a long time before the UK got a free trade agreement with the EU or any country for that matter. The problem with these arguments, though, isn’t that they are wrong, but that they over-p...
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