In The Media

United Kingdom’s tilt to Asia no panacea for ailing British trade (East Asia Forum)

Published 13 September 2022

Despite initiating the largest change in trade policy in 50 years — leaving the European Union — the UK government still has no trade strategy. The United Kingdom’s budding relationship with Asia is essentially a matter of grand rhetoric and tactics, writes L. Alan Winters. The big tactical plays now are accession to the Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) and the FTA negotiations with India. The striking thing about the ‘tilt towards Asia’ is that it entirely misses China, furthermore, Asia will struggle to replace the flexible and just-in-time supply chains that characterised trade between the European Union and the United Kingdom.