Following its withdrawal from the European Union, the United Kingdom is considering negotiating trade agreements to replace and supplement those in which it participated as a member of the European Union Customs Union. By October 2020[Update], the UK has concluded a new trade agreement (with Japan)[a] has agreed to continue 20 existing agreements (EU) and further negotiations are ongoing. The British government describes itself as a supporter of free trade. [2] [3] Trade Minister Jurin Laksanawisit is due to sign the Memorandum of Understanding with Elizabeth Truss, UK Secretary of State for International Trade, on 29 March. Thailand told the UK in a conference call with UK Trade Representative Mark Garnier on Monday (March 22nd) that it was interested in a free trade agreement, Said Sansern Samalapa, Deputy Trade Minister. If by 31. In December, no agreement is reached, many imports and exports are subject to fees that could drive up prices for businesses and consumers. Trade and investment relations between the UK and Thailand are becoming increasingly important. British exports of goods to Thailand have more than tripled in the past five years, reaching 96 billion baht in 2012.
Thai exports of goods to the UK also increased during this period, reaching 117 billion baht in 2012. The continued opening of Thai markets will benefit Thai producers and consumers in various sectors, including agriculture, manufacturing and healthcare. And given the imminent loss of Thailand`s existing preferential access to EU markets under the EU`s “Generalised System of Preferences” from January 2015, an EU-Thailand free trade agreement could provide Thailand with permanent preferential access to European markets and enable better export competitiveness with Thailand`s ASEAN neighbours. The British Secretary of Commerce spoke of the value of ASEAN, referring to its entire population. Yet at least a third of them are subsistence farmers, while the middle-class consumer population in Singapore and Vietnam is around 20 million – a difference between economic reality and the political discourse of a truly available market inflated to 630 million people by the Minister of Commerce. It should also be noted that MP Nus Ghani, a Muslim born in Indian Kashmir, is a powerful influencer on Boris Johnson, the British Prime Minister, and is very supportive of Indian foreign policy. She is extremely critical of the complex Sino-Muslim Uyghur issue and the disputed China-Pakistan-Kashmir region, both of which influence her political thinking. Ghani is greatly influenced by the family and cultural resentment of the British Raj era against Beijing, which is outdated and unsuited to contemporary commercial diplomacy.
Thailand and the UK plan to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to establish a joint trade committee on trade and economic cooperation, paving the way for a future free trade agreement (FTA) after Brexit. Trade between Thailand and the UK in 2020 was estimated at a total of $4.88 billion, with exports to the UK worth $3.09 billion. China is by far Asia`s largest consumer economy, with a population of about 1.4 billion and an increasingly demanding middle class of about half of the estimated 550 million. However, political differences between the UK and Beijing have clouded the trade picture, with the situation classified as “toxic” compared to the UK`s stance towards China. Some of them were petty and ill-conceived, although they appear to have been initiated by the UK. British MPs voted to impose sanctions on Chinese companies and officials in Xinjiang for their involvement in Uyghur camps. (Interestingly, the following problems in Afghanistan, which borders Xinjiang, with some thoughts that China is preparing for what has turned into an uprising.) The UK has since expelled the Chinese ambassador from the Houses of Parliament in protest at China`s retaliatory measures, now the Chinese are discussing banning the British ambassador from the Great Hall of the People. It is a schoolboy`s behavior and both unworthy.
It should be noted, however, that the UK started this race to the lowest echelons of diplomacy, not Beijing. So far, more than 20 of these existing agreements, covering 50 countries or territories, have been extended and will start on 1 January 2021. This represents around 8% of the UK`s total trade, based on 2018 figures. But it is clear that new agreements with some countries will not be ready in time. Any existing EU agreement that is not renewed will end on 31 December and future trade will take place on WTO terms until an agreement is reached. During the Brexit negotiations between the EU and the UK, some feared that no agreement could be reached on the withdrawal conditions and that the UK would abruptly leave the EU without a deal (the initial scenario of a no-deal Brexit). With this result, the UK secured a pure trade deal with Norway and Iceland, which would only be valid following a no-deal exit from the EU. As the UK agreed on the terms and ratified the Brexit Withdrawal Agreement in November 2019 and leaves the EU at the end of January 2020, this agreement has become obsolete and therefore will not enter into force.
In addition to Thailand, the EU has continued trade negotiations with Indonesia, the Philippines and Malaysia in recent years, with mixed results. Nevertheless, the negotiations that followed a successful agreement with Vietnam reflect a concerted EU effort to strengthen economic relations with Southeast Asia. .