Johnson warns EU against any 'Napoleonic' tariffs in no-deal Brexit

[snoop1130]

Johnson warns EU against any 'Napoleonic' tariffs in no-deal Brexit

by bGuy Faulconbridge, Elizabeth Piper

 

Boris Johnson, a leadership candidate for Britain's Conservative Party, stands outside one of the buildings at Wisley Garden Centre in Surrey, Britain, June 25, 2019. REUTERS/Peter Nicholls

 

LONDON (Reuters) - Boris Johnson, the favourite to become British prime minister, said he was prepared to lead Britain out of the European Union without a deal on Oct. 31 and said any EU attempt to impose trade tariffs would be akin to a Napoleonic-era blockade.

 

The United Kingdom’s three-year Brexit crisis could be about to deepen as Johnson’s pledge to leave the EU with or without a deal on Halloween could provoke a standoff with parliament, which has indicated its opposition to a no-deal exit.

 

No-deal means there would be no transition period so the exit would be abrupt, the nightmare scenario for many businesses and the dream of hard Brexiteers who want a decisive split.

 

Johnson, a former foreign minister and London mayor, said he was convinced the EU would agree a new deal based on bits of outgoing Prime Minister Theresa May’s “dead” Withdrawal Agreement.

 

“My pledge is to come out of the EU at Halloween on 31 October,” Johnson, 55, told BBC TV, adding that there were “technical fixes” to prevent the return of a hard border between EU-member Ireland and Northern Ireland, which is part of the UK.

 

Johnson reaffirmed his view, contested by many, that Britain could retain tariff-free trade with the EU after a no-deal exit.

 

“I think it would be very bizarre if the EU should decide on their own... if they decided to impose tariffs on goods coming from the UK it would be... a return to Napoleon’s continental system,” Johnson told LBC radio on Tuesday.

 

Napoleon Bonaparte’s ‘Continental System’ was a blockade whose aim was to cripple Britain’s economy during the Napoleonic wars in the early 19th century.

 

Bank of England Governor Mark Carney has said a provision that permits trade to continue unchanged between two parties if they so decide could only be applied when a trade deal was in place or about to be in place.

 

Johnson repeated a warning that there would be “creative ambiguity” about when and how a previously agreed 39 billion pound ($50 billion) exit bill gets paid to the EU. He ruled out any extension of the Brexit talks beyond Oct. 31.

 

He repeatedly refused to answer questions about an argument with his girlfriend which has raised doubts about his fitness to lead the country.

 

 

NO-DEAL BORIS?

 

The EU has refused to renegotiate the Withdrawal Agreement reached with May last November, and Ireland has indicated it is not willing to change the Irish border “backstop” that upset the Northern Irish party which props up May’s minority government.

 

Johnson said he did not want a no-deal Brexit - which investors warn would roil financial markets and send shockwaves through the European economy - but that it was necessary to put it on the table so that Britain could get the result it wanted.

 

“The way to get our friends and partners to understand how serious we are is finally, I’m afraid, to abandon the defeatism and negativity that has enfolded us in a great cloud for so long and to prepare confidently and seriously for a WTO or no-deal outcome,” he said in the BBC TV interview on Monday evening.

 

Britain is a member of the World Trade Organization so tariffs and other terms governing its trade with the EU would be set under WTO rules.

 

Britain’s car industry warned the next prime minister on Tuesday against a “seismic” no-deal Brexit, which it said could add billions of pounds in tariffs and cause border disruption, crippling the sector.

 

Business leaders have already triggered contingency plans to cope with additional checks on the post-Brexit UK-EU border, which they fear will clog ports, silt up the arteries of trade and dislocate supply chains in Europe and beyond.

 

Brexit supporters say there would be short-term disruption but in the long-term the UK would thrive if cut free from what they cast as a doomed experiment in German-dominated unity that has led to Europe falling behind China and the United States.

 

On resolving the impasse over the Irish border, Johnson said he thought changing or abandoning the backstop - a guarantee to ensure no return of hard border checks between Ireland and Northern Ireland - could be a way forward.

 

Last week, Irish foreign minister Simon Coveney said the contenders to become Britain’s prime minister had offered solutions “simply not based on reality”. Johnson is facing off against foreign minister Jeremy Hunt to lead their ruling Conservative Party. The winner, to be chosen by the party’s 160,000 paid-up members, will be announced on July 23 and will then replace May as prime minister.

 

Gordon Brown, prime minister from 2007 to 2010, said the unity of the United Kingdom would be at greater risk than at any other time in its 300-year history if Johnson wins the top job.

 

“In jeopardy are both the unity and integrity of the United Kingdom and the shared values – tolerance, respect for diversity, being outward-looking,” said Brown, from the opposition Labour Party.

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2019-06-26

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[Mavideol]

26 minutes ago, snoop1130 said:

Johnson reaffirmed his view, contested by many, that Britain could retain tariff-free trade with the EU after a no-deal exit.

keep dreaming, now as a member you have free trade.... after as a NO member why should have same privileges, wishful thinking, you will get same tariffs on goods as other NO EU countries do

[welovesundaysatspace]

 

42 minutes ago, snoop1130 said:

it would be... a return to Napoleon’s continental system

A return to a no-EU-membership System, which is what you wanted. 

[billd766]

49 minutes ago, Mavideol said:

keep dreaming, now as a member you have free trade.... after as a NO member why should have same privileges, wishful thinking, you will get same tariffs on goods as other NO EU countries do

It is however a 2 way trade. If the EU wishes to put high tariffs on goods imported from the EU there will be nothing stopping the UK doing the same.

[jak2002003]

2 minutes ago, billd766 said:

It is however a 2 way trade. If the EU wishes to put high tariffs on goods imported from the EU there will be nothing stopping the UK doing the same.

And what are the goods the EU will want from the UK, that they can't get from any other country?  I don't think we make much anymore do we?

[damascase]

Boris still hasn’t a clue about trade and tariffs. If there is no deal at all, the EU is bound by the WTO to apply its WTO-tariffs to goods imported from the UK.

[mvsaraburi]

23 minutes ago, jak2002003 said:

And what are the goods the EU will want from the UK, that they can't get from any other country?  I don't think we make much anymore do we?

typical Remoaner running down the UK.  After the glorious no-deal brexit, delivered by the Churchillian Boris du Pfeffle Johnson, the British Empire will rise on endless exports of jam, fish and chips, Morris Minors and good old-fashioned british spunk.   the pound will be worth 100 baht, we'll get our own special lane at immigration requiring no TM-6 and all the best hi-so Thai women will be paying us Sinsod for the privilege of marrying a plucky post-brexit Brit.

[arithai12]

2 hours ago, damascase said:

Boris still hasn’t a clue about trade and tariffs. If there is no deal at all, the EU is bound by the WTO to apply its WTO-tariffs to goods imported from the UK.

That's why he was endorsed by Trump.

[baboon]

3 hours ago, billd766 said:

It is however a 2 way trade. If the EU wishes to put high tariffs on goods imported from the EU there will be nothing stopping the UK doing the same.

Except one party is far larger, organised and better equipped to weather the storm than the other. Not to mention determined.

[welovesundaysatspace]

3 hours ago, billd766 said:

It is however a 2 way trade. If the EU wishes to put high tariffs on goods imported from the EU there will be nothing stopping the UK doing the same.

1) Almost half of all UK exports go to the EU. 

2) Only 7% of all EU exports go to the UK. 

 

Who relies on whom? 

[Jonathan Fairfield]

Boris Johnson says chances of no-deal Brexit are 'a million-to-one'

 

Boris Johnson, a leadership candidate for Britain's Conservative Party, stands outside one of the buildings at Wisley Garden Centre in Surrey, Britain, June 25, 2019. REUTERS/Peter Nicholls

 

LONDON (Reuters) - Boris Johnson, the favourite to become British prime minister, said the chances of Britain leaving the European Union without a deal are “a million-to-one” even as he repeated his promise to leave the bloc without a deal by the end of October.

 

The race to replace Prime Minister Theresa May has heated up this week, with the foreign minister Jeremy Hunt stepping up his criticism of Johnson, who has warned that he would execute a so-called no-deal Brexit if he fails to agree a deal with the EU.

 

More than three years after Britain voted to leave the EU, Brexit is dominating the race to become leader of the Conservative Party and the next prime minister.

 

The winner could face a battle with parliament, which rejected May’s deal three times and is opposed to a no-deal exit.

At an election hustings on Wednesday, Johnson said the chances of leaving the EU without an agreement are remote because there is was a new mood among leaders on the continent and parliament to pass a revised Brexit deal.

 

“It is vital that we are prepare for a no-deal outcome if we are going to get the deal that we need. I don’t think that is where we are going to end up, I think it is a million-to-one against,” he said.

 

DO OR DIE BREXIT

 

His comments came just a day after he promised to leave the EU at the end of October “come what may, do or die”, raising fears among more moderate lawmakers in parliament that he will attempt to push through a no-deal Brexit.

 

Earlier, Hunt took aim at rival Johnson’s “do or die” pledge to take Britain out of the EU no matter what, saying this stance could destroy Brexit and the government.

 

Hunt, who also wants Brexit to happen at the end of October but would extend the deadline if a deal was in sight, said it could open the way to opposition Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn winning a new election.

 

“If we do it in this kind of ‘do or die way’, the risk is that we’ll just trip into a general election because parliament will stop it, as they did in March, and then we’ll have Corbyn in Downing Street, and there will be no Brexit at all,” Hunt told BBC radio.

 

The two contenders are now hoping to win over the governing Conservatives’ around 160,000 members, whose votes will ultimately decide who becomes prime minister.

 

Both contenders say they do not want a no-deal Brexit, but concede that, if needed, they would lead Britain out of the bloc without a deal with differing levels of enthusiasm - a scenario businesses say could cripple the world’s fifth largest economy.

 

Labour, and other opposition parties have said they will not allow a new government to preside over a no deal, with some lawmakers suggesting the new prime minister could face a no confidence motion almost immediately.

 

“We’re confident that no deal can be prevented in parliament,” said a spokesman for Corbyn. “We will use whatever means necessary to prevent a no deal outcome.”

 

Johnson played down the likelihood that he would prorogue, or suspend, parliament until the Brexit deadline to prevent lawmakers blocking a no-deal Brexit, but did not entirely rule it out.

 

“I’m not attracted to archaic devices like proroguing,” he said.

 

Hunt, during the hustings, also took the opportunity to dismiss one of Johnson’s ideas that Britain could negotiate a standstill agreement to prevent trade tariffs with the EU if it left with no deal.

 

Hunt said he was not accusing Johnson of lying but said that his proposals under an international mechanism of Article 24 of the GATT Treaty could not realistically be introduced.

 

“We’ve got to knock this Gatt 24 thing on the head. You can only get an agreement not to introduce tariffs if both sides agree to that,” he said.

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2019-06-27

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[Bluespunk]

12 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

Johnson, 55, told BBC TV, adding that there were “technical fixes” to prevent the return of a hard border between EU-member Ireland and Northern Ireland,

Name them. 

[Bluespunk]

12 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

Johnson reaffirmed his view, contested by many, that Britain could retain tariff-free trade with the EU after a no-deal exit.

 

No wonder he runs away from debates with his fellow leadership contenders, with ridiculous statements like that, they’d crucify him. 

 

At least there is some logic to his cowardice in avoiding such debates. 

 

Not sure how this cowardice makes him the ideal candidate to re-negotiate a treaty, that the EU has made clear is not up for re-negotiation, with the EU though.  

[hotchilli]

13 hours ago, Mavideol said:

keep dreaming, now as a member you have free trade.... after as a NO member why should have same privileges, wishful thinking, you will get same tariffs on goods as other NO EU countries do

After the exit in October if EU countries apply tariffs on English goods being sold to them then it will apply in return... new tariff free deals will suddenly be negotiated.

They don't want to pay tariffs on goods exported to the UK either!!

What goes around comes around.

[stevenl]

9 minutes ago, hotchilli said:

After the exit in October if EU countries apply tariffs on English goods being sold to them then it will apply in return... new tariff free deals will suddenly be negotiated.

They don't want to pay tariffs on goods exported to the UK either!!

What goes around comes around.

They don't pay them, the consumer pays them. And with considerably more dependence of UK on exports to EU than the other way round you have a clear disadvantage there.

[Scott]

Post in all caps removed.  

 

[Emdog]

Million to one? Okay Boris, I'll bet you a fiver at those odds. Deal?

[robblok]

21 minutes ago, hotchilli said:

After the exit in October if EU countries apply tariffs on English goods being sold to them then it will apply in return... new tariff free deals will suddenly be negotiated.

They don't want to pay tariffs on goods exported to the UK either!!

What goes around comes around.

True but the Brits with half their exports to the UK and only 7% from the Eu are at a big disadvantage. So who do you think needs to worry more. Logic never was much for the brexiteers. 

 

They all think it will be so much better without the EU foolish people an open market is best for consumers. 

[bendejo]

10 hours ago, arithai12 said:

That's why he was endorsed by Trump.

Birds of a feather, and Steve Bannon is the not-so-little birdy in both of their ears.

 

Another shameless, babbling clown.

 

Farange is a product of a poor sewage system: if the Brits were in the habit of flushing twice he wouldn't have emerged from the waste.

 

[sammieuk1]

Should be ok for a free trade deal with the Caymans as there is already trillions under the table so some of us remain unaffected by financial suicide ????

[Loiner]

13 hours ago, ratcatcher said:

Is there proveable evidence that Boris Johnson actually beat his partner Carrie Symonds? Just a standard domestic row apparently. That doesn't make him a Fascist.

Doesn't make anybody a fascist. Neither does wanting to Leave the EU, but it's just a word the liberal left and Remainers like to throw in there for effect. Pity they don't understand how wrong they are, as the EU tends towards more total control while Brexited Britain will be more open and free trading to the whole world.

[Loiner]

13 hours ago, geoffbezoz said:

Didn't say that it did. What I said in a separate sentence was " Boris and the Brexiteering sheep voted to leave the EU and set up their own Facist state against the advice of the EU so they have no grounds for complaint now. "

Calm yourself down, or your antifa mask will pop off under the pressure of rhetoric and bile. 

[welovesundaysatspace]

13 hours ago, ratcatcher said:

 

Just a standard domestic row apparently. 

You should revisit your relationship/partner decisions if that is “standard” for you. 

[evadgib]

2 hours ago, Bluespunk said:

No wonder he runs away from debates with his fellow leadership contenders, with ridiculous statements like that, they’d crucify him. 

 

At least there is some logic to his cowardice in avoiding such debates. 

 

Not sure how this cowardice makes him the ideal candidate to re-negotiate a treaty, that the EU has made clear is not up for re-negotiation, with the EU though.  

ITV are conducting a head to head debate next week.

Johnson is heading towards it.

[Rimmer]

An inflammatory post and several replies have been removed

[Bluespunk]

13 minutes ago, evadgib said:

ITV are conducting a head to head debate next week.

Johnson is heading towards it.

He ducked the Sky debate between him and hunt. 

 

That’s two now. 

 

Man’s a coward. 

 

On the subject of the itv debate, is that before or after a tiny minority of the uk public are given the chance to start voting for the uks next pm?

[BritManToo]

10 hours ago, baboon said:

Except one party is far larger, organised and better equipped to weather the storm than the other. Not to mention determined.

That's what they were saying in 1940 (and 1917), but they still lost.

[jcsmith]

His haircut says it all... Dumb and Dumber...

[evadgib]

1 minute ago, Bluespunk said:

He ducked the Sky debate. That’s two now. 

 

Man’s a coward. 

To have ducked anything he must surely have first agreed to do it? My understanding is that this particular gauntlet was thrown down by Hunt but was never on Boris's agenda in the first place. With Sky being pro remain & with a manufactured non-event in his private life as soon as the Tories had fired the starting gun who could blame him?

 

(Dom-the-weasel was still at it yesterday!)

[tebee]

The only way his two statements could be true, we leave oct 31st with a deal, is if we leave with may's deal.

 

Not time to negotiate anything  else and get it approved.

 

 

Wasn't a good plan first time round, still not a good idea.