Comment by cbeach
5 days ago
Brexit literally just resulted in the UK having lower tariffs and a probable free trade deal with the largest economy on the planet.
...unlike our friends on the European continent.
5 days ago
Brexit literally just resulted in the UK having lower tariffs and a probable free trade deal with the largest economy on the planet.
...unlike our friends on the European continent.
The UK-EU trade volume is three times larger than that between UK-US.
That's definitely not what Brexit was and is about. Go ask a fellow british about that.
> Brexit literally just resulted in the UK having lower tariffs
That is, of course, entirely false. In that the UK does not, in fact, have lower tariffs, and even if that would be the case, there are many downsides that don’t have anything to do with tariffs.
> and a probable free trade deal with the largest economy on the planet
The FTA with the US has been "happening soon" for about a decade now. I’ll believe it when I see it. And with a protectionist American government, it would put the UK at a significant disadvantage.
> unlike our friends on the European continent
LOL. Nobody on the continent wants its country in the same position as the UK is. Brexit killed any political movement to leave the EU for a generation.
> In that the UK does not, in fact, have lower tariffs
When tariffs were applied, UK got 10%, EU got 20%. There's currently a temporary reprieve on the EU.
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2025/04/02/trump-tariff...
They were not applied. Tomorrow, they can be 30% or 5.36%. If your only goal was depending on a fluke and a brain fart of a senile old man 10 years after Brexit was voted, then I don’t need to tell you how poorly thought out it was. If that is your measure of success, then Russia and Belarus welcome you.
So a couple of things:
1. The EU has that reprieve. Given the EU can bite back, it's possible that reprieve becomes permanent.
2. Last time Trump slapped tariffs on UK + EU, Biden prioritised reversing tariffs on the EU first because they're a bigger trading partner than the UK.
As the above poster pointed out, that's to say nothing of the many downsides of not being in the EU.
Brexit has been a disaster for the UK otherwise and anyone with eyes can see that
A "disaster" is a overstatement to the point of falsity. Still an unforced error and a bad idea but let's not exaggerate.
Why do you think it's an exaggeration? I mean it has measurably put them in a worse financial spot than before. I'd call the US tariffs a disaster and I'm not sure which one wiped out more from which nation's economy
> probable free trade deal
While hoping is free, the negative impact of Brexit has been extensively documented. Hell, there's even a Wikipedia page about it: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economic_effects_of_Brexit
I guess brexit insanity and trump insanity cancel each other out then
> probable free trade deal with the largest economy on the planet.
Get ready for the chlorine chicken!