Trump Says No “Free Trade Deal” With Britain Under May’s Brexit Plan

Former British Foreign Secretary (and racist war criminal) Boris Johnson celebrates the majesty of Britain’s (er…America’s) creative services industry at the DUP Conference 2018

In the bleak midwinter of December 2018, Britain’s Members of Parliament (MPs) will vote on whether or not to accept Prime Minister May’s proposed withdrawal agreement from the European Union. US President Donald Trump said that, from what he understands of Britain’s proposed agreement, the EU will continue to have regulatory power of Britain’s sovereign right to “free trade.” Under such an agreement, Britain’s elites could be legally constrained from signing a “free trade” deal with their counterparts in the US.

Bilateral “free trade” deals are about eliminating already-low tariffs, privatizing what’s left of national resources, and rooting-out hidden tariffs, like value-added taxes.

If Trump is consistent (usually he’s not) and should PM May’s withdrawal agreement be accepted by a majority of the filth occupying the House of Commons, losing the proposed “free trade” deal with the US will be a kick in the face to those who engineered Brexit behind the scenes. This loose association of financial traders and “free market” fanatics—Liam Fox, Nigel Farage, Nigel Lawson, Jacob Rees-Mogg, Boris Johnson (and those are just some of the politicians, never mind businesses)—won’t get their much-vaunted “free trade” deal with the US. And what a shame that would be.

No deal with the US means that Britain’s financial institutions cannot buy or sell tariff-free US financial products, like the toxic derivatives that contributed to the financial crash of 2007-08.

Without a “free trade” deal with Uncle Sam, Britain’s free-at-the-point-of-use National Health Service won’t enjoy the luxury of tariff-free US-access to the treasure-chest of public health insurance, or access to the saleable data of tens of millions of Britons.

It will mean that Britain won’t be able to get tariff-free access to US genetically-modified foods, hormone-treated beef or chlorinated chicken.

The salaries of British workers won’t compete with US products built by automation in the manufacturing and services sectors.

Without the “free trade” deal, what’s left of Britain’s dying high-street shops won’t get finished off by the expanding activities of US transnationals, like Apple and Amazon.

May’s whips (the political enforcers who try to “encourage” MPs to vote a certain way) might be able to bully, blackmail, bribe and intimidate enough of May’s MPs into voting for “her” (read: secret advisers’) withdrawal agreement. If that happens, the Brexiteers won’t get their US “free trade” deal. In addition, and more importantly, ordinary Britons will be in real trouble because the Tories will be in power until 2022, when the next general election is due.

Trump’s statement won’t make any difference to the hardline Brexiteers who are apparently planning to vote against May anyway. It might, however, nudge some of those on the fence into voting against the proposed EU withdrawal agreement because they might fear the UK being in a state of limbo between the US and EU.

Former PM and war criminal Tony Blair has said that the proposed withdrawal agreement is not acceptable. Who cares what he says? Well, enough “centrists” (read: closet Tories) in the Labour Party might take their idol’s advice seriously enough to vote against the proposed agreement; that is if they’re not too frightened by May’s rhetoric about a no-deal alternative. The no-deal alternative which she is threatening would enable the US-UK “free trade” deal. (In reality, bills can be introduced to extend the negotiating period to avoid a no-deal.)

Unless they can be bribed into changing their tune, the far-right fanatics in the DUP--the Northern Irish party propping up May’s government via a £1bn “confidence and supply” deal (read: bribe)--look set to vote against May’s proposal.

If May’s agreement goes through Parliament and becomes law, there’s even less chance of a Corbyn government coming to power. The best scenario for most of Britain’s long-suffering working people and under-class is that May’s proposed agreement is rejected, the government collapses, a general election is triggered (in one of numerous ways), and Corbyn’s Labour Party comes to power in early-2019.

But in Britain’s “democracy,” that’s unlikely to happen, given all the legal (and illegal) roadblocks to democracy.

T.J. Coles is the author of several books, including The Great Brexit Swindle.

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