EU wastes time selling French cigarette lighters to the Americans while UK deal burns

New EU-US trade deal announced, but EU blocks UK trade deal again

Facts4EU.Org reveals the EU propaganda machine is at it again and the new US 'deal' is almost worthless

Yesterday two statements were issued by the EU about its trade talks. One was in French, from Monsieur Barnier, about the lack of progress on reaching a deal with the UK.

The other was in English, hyping a supposed new Tariff Agreement with the United States.

Let’s start with the new EU-US deal

Yesterday in Brussels the EU Trade Commissioner Phil Hogan announced “agreement on a package of tariff reductions that will increase market access for hundreds of millions of dollars in U.S. and EU exports.”

Brexit Facts4EU.Org Summary

So what does this exciting EU-US deal cover?
Well, the answer is “Not much.”

The deal covers EU exports of “certain prepared meals, certain crystal glassware, surface preparations, propellant powders, cigarette lighters and lighter parts”
Total value of these EU exports: $160 million per year
Total value of all EU exports to the US: $684,000 million per year
This new deal covers only 0.023% of all EU exports to the US
And tariffs have not been eliminated by the US, only halved

- Source: Office of the United States Trade Representative, data for 2018

To get this deal, the EU had to agree to eliminate completely all tariffs on a range of products which the US exports to the EU.

How does yesterday’s EU-US trade deal compare
to the potential EU-UK trade deal?

Value of EU goods exports covered by new EU-US trade deal: €136m
Value of EU goods exports covered by potential EU-UK trade deal: €318,099m
The UK deal would be worth over 2,300 times more than the US deal which the EU did yesterday

What was the result of the latest EU-UK trade talks this week?

Yesterday in Brussels Michel Barnier issued a statement regarding the end of Round Seven of the EU-UK trade talks with David Frost and his team.

The majority of the statement was in French and the EU has not translated this, as usual. At over 2,000 words Monsieur Barnier has still not learnt the art of précis. David Frost’s statement was a fraction of the length of Michel Barnier’s, as usual, coming in at under 300 words.

It is therefore perhaps more helpful for readers if we provide two quotes from David Frost’s statement, which sum up the situation between the two sides.

“We have had useful discussions this week but there has been little progress.”

“We are seeking a relationship which ensures we regain sovereign control of our own laws, borders, and waters, and centred upon a trading relationship based on an FTA like those the EU has concluded with a range of other international partners, together with practical arrangements for cooperation in areas such as aviation, scientific programmes, and law enforcement. When the EU accepts this reality in all areas of the negotiation, it will be much easier to make progress.”

[Barnier’s statement in full. Frost’s statement in full.]

Observations

Once again the EU Commission is trumpeting its prowess at doing trade deals. In this case the deal with the United States is so tiny it will not even register on the majority of EU27 countries’ own export figures, let alone the EU’s collective figures.

In the meantime, the EU has an opportunity to do a quick trade deal with a large country on its doorstep, its second-largest export market, and a country with whom it has a massive trade surplus.

Right now the EU will not even offer the UK a trade deal such as those it has done with Canada and Japan since the EU Referendum.

We have consistently argued since 2015 that the federalist fanatics of the EU Commission would never offer the UK a sensible and logical deal. These people are missionary zealots. They are driven by ideology, not by the economic best interests of their member states.

We believe the Government should not only ramp up its arrangements for trading on WTO terms with the EU from the end of this year, but it must be seen to be doing so. The apparatchiks of the EU read the FT and the Guardian, and they watch the BBC. As a consequence it is our opinion that they continue to believe the Remainers’ talk of a last-minute compromise, whereby the UK will cede on its various red lines and the EU will continue to have control over aspects of the UK’s business and society.

If the Government does compromise, they would not be forgiven by many millions of voters. The EU must now cut out the nonsense and do a deal. We don’t think they will and they will then be responsible for job cuts across the EU. So be it.

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[ Sources: EU Commission | EU Trade Directorate | Office of the United States Trade Representative | No.10 Press Office ] Politicians and journalists can contact us for details, as ever.

Brexit Facts4EU.Org, Sat 22 Aug 2020

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Reader Comments 10

1. Brian T , Saturday, August 22, 2020, 07:00:

Just walk away ,no deal, no more payments.

2. Euripides , Saturday, August 22, 2020, 07:26:

My confidence in this administration hangs by a slender thread...oh for a strong decisive patriotic leadership.
The financial aspects of brexit have been self evident to anyone who takes time to assess the pros and cons and the maths, it's win win for god's sake! If we're not fully prepared for WTO why not? The rancid politics of this debacle have all but destroyed trust in our establishment.

3. Not4EU, London , Saturday, August 22, 2020, 08:36:

Yet another Groundhog day. SEVEN rounds & yet again little progress, 2 months after the 'We will go WTO unless we are close to a deal by 30th June' deadline. I applaud David Frost for his resilience, however at the end of the day he is 'just' the negotiator. As an experienced negotiator, I'm sure that he's advised Boros that we will not gain the independence voted for via these talks but the instruction to walk away from these time-wasting, money-wasting faux 'negotiations' must come from Boros. We hear only silence. Very telling.
The ONLY way to get a decent deal with the EU is from the OUTSIDE. Leave on WTO THEN talk. That way, the people can also be assured that any future ceding of our sovereignty & the implications therein must be highlighted & discussed, at a minimum, by Parliament.
It's beginning to look a lot like a 'magical' agreement will be pulled out of the hat as a last moment 'miracle'. Just like the atrocious and trap-laden WA. Sorry Boros, it won't wash. Show some leadership & walk away. Rip up the WA as null & void as the EU have not been dealing 'in good faith'. That is evident to everyone. 'In good faith' are just meaningless words to those in the EU. As a further non-Brexit demonstration of that, Phil Hogan, the EU Trade Commissioner, used it as an excuse for him breaking Irish law, when he has been in the country since late July so must have been fully aware of their current draconian laws regarding the 'plague'.
Give the country certainty. Call a halt to this farce.

4. Brexit means Brexit Essex , Saturday, August 22, 2020, 10:15:

The EU do not want a deal on any other terms other than their own,hence insisting on existing EU rules on fishing. Something NO independent country could concede, their sovereignty. The EU want to push Boris to the limit to cause as much damage as they can to our economy and hopefully for Remainers in the UK to put pressure on the UK Government to rejoin the failing "project".Such a policy would alert doubters in their 27 country community what happens if you have the audacity to leave. If Boris stays strong doesn't back down,and at the moment he doesn't appear to be wavering,the UK will get a deal after we had fully left the block.Post covid, the economic pressures from other EU States,on the Commission to get a deal, will increase as they see their lucrative markets in the UK disappearing, as they try to rebuild their economies.The Irish in particular are going to be hard hit by "no deal",the Commission will have to do something to support them, otherwise it sends a message to other smaller countries in the block, that they are expendable.

5. Concerned , Saturday, August 22, 2020, 10:49:

Oh how I wish the commission would all fall violently ill and perish at once. Same with the CCP. Our world could then become almost overnight a much improved place.
Almost 5 years farting about and we are not yet free of the madness of the EU, I am very sad for the Europe I remember, such a lovely place.

6. John Hatfield , Saturday, August 22, 2020, 10:54:

According to the Daily Mail today Saturday, the EU and the US have also concluded a trade deal on lobsters. Significant hey?

7. Mike S , Saturday, August 22, 2020, 14:53:

The EU,yet again,have shown themselves up with what utter ***p that they are full of! They bleat about what so-called wonderful things they can do but very deliberately try to screw over the UK at each & every opportunity. If the EU had put as much effort into getting a good deal as they did in trying to make an example of the UK with what happens when you don't do or give them what they demand, we most likely all be fairly happy with the outcome. But the EU didn't & don't want that. So,to Hell with them! The EU project has failed & it's a rapidly sinking ship of which the UK has gladly left. It didn't have to be that way but,when the EU 27 nations start suffering more than they already are,they have only themselves to blame.

8. Barbara Jell , Sunday, August 23, 2020, 00:41:

Our Government is indeed a joke. Writing in the Telegraph, Ben Habib, businessman and former Brexit Party MEP, has urged Boris Johnson to walk away from the 'floundering' Brexit talks, pull the plug on the Withdrawal Agreement agreed with the EU and declare in favour of a no-deal Brexit. He says "it is time for him to show some real mettle and fulfil his promise by declaring in favour of a no-deal ... and given the wholly unreasonable position taken by the EU, he should take the opportunity to repudiate the Withdrawal Agreement which holds no benefit, only ills, for the UK." He added "The vote for Brexit was a vote for the UK to regain its sovereignty - no ifs, no buts. That vote took place over FOUR years ago. It is high time to enact it."
Since winning the election with a good majority, this Government has lurched from one crisis to another: an insanely pernicious lockdown and masking policy for Covid, which has had catastrophic consequences for both the people and the economy, the exams fiasco, the incendiary importation of thousands of illegal immigrants and putting them in 4 star hotels across the country and the dithering over Brexit, after stipulating in February that if no deal was reached by June 30, the UK would cease negotiations and prepare for a no deal.
'Never trust a Tory,' or any other politician for that matter. Never have so few damaged and betrayed so many!

9. John Snow , Sunday, August 23, 2020, 20:17:

Surely EU can multitask or does ppl think only 1 trade negotiation at the time is only way...

10. Hopwood , Monday, August 24, 2020, 11:26:

I believe in unicorns,I believe in mermaids,in little green aliens,Santa Claus,the tooth fairy,flat earth and a wonderful government which brings us prosperity,happiness and strength.......Now here's the brainteaser: Can you spot the odd one out among that list of marvels ?
It's a tricky one,so a clue may help. We have the most incompetent pantomime government in the history of the Tory party,even against some stiff competition over the last 200 years. Have a look at George Cruikshank's cartoon from 1819, "A free born Englishman "
But now, incompetence mixed with repressive measures gives a toxic brew that will stink for a generation.
One image of this administration demands our wonder and entertainment....it is a masterclass in contortionism. It manages to sit on its hands while sucking its thumb,putting its fingers in its ears,crossing those fingers and talking with its head up its a**e. A slick trick if you can do it. But if BoJo and friends do not shape up soon his chances will be rather less than his becoming the next Pope. Faith in these politicians ? My money is on flying pigs and the Easter Bunny.

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