This I suspect is going to be one of the better long reads about Brexit ten years after the referendum, built as it is from the strong contention of the result as the UK providing a major boost to nationalist populism, and seeing the broad impacts. www.bloomberg.com/news/feature...

And today’s UK government announcement www.gov.uk/government/p...

Government announces partial food and drink deal with EU Publishes SPS guidance today for food exporters in bid to reboot trade www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

Two often-conflated debates I think it's worth treating as separate are: 1) Can tariffs theoretically be used to achieve policy objectives? and 2) Are our current governments sufficiently strategic, skilled, informed, independent, incorruptible, and long-termist to use them that way?

New from me: A reply to Keynes: Let's clear up what rules can do. open.substack.com/pub/monapaul...

Why Europe must embrace tariffs My FT column today 300 free clicks: as.ft.com/r/8c299ab8-7...

To save the trading system, the United States must rethink a foundational rule, and bring other countries along for the project. My latest, for @TIME time.com/article/2026...

🌱 A plan to revitalise the World Trade Organization 🔨 Countries committed to preserving the rules-based trading order should consider new, plurilateral initiatives and WTO reform. 📑 Policy Brief by Ignacio Garcia Bercero here: 🔗 buff.ly/iG6nZBI #EconSky

India-US Trade Talks Indian officials are unfazed by Washington’s shifting tariff authorities & remain motivated to seal an interim agreement that preserves & expands access to the US market, Brendan Lynch, assistant USTR for South & Central Asia, said on Tuesday. insidetrade.com/daily-news/u...

India-US Trade Talks India and the US are set to intensify negotiations on their proposed Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA), with a high-level American delegation scheduled to visit New Delhi from June 1 to 4 for another round of discussions. 1/2 m.economictimes.com/news/economy...

🧵 bsky.app/profile/john...

British Policy UK's former PM Tony Blair (Labour Party) is turning up the political heat on Keir Starmer, penning a 5,700 word essay attacking the current PM’s lack of a coherent plan for Britain. The full essay ⬇️ institute.global/insights/pol...

EU-UK Relations: From today's Politico Brussels Playbook: "Keir Starmer is pushing for a major reset in UK-EU relations after Brexit — but the British PM is struggling even to nail down the date for a leaders’ meeting." www.politico.eu/newsletter/b...

EU-US Trade Deal / Turnberry Additional Agreement EP plenary vote on the Turnberry deal: Tuesday 16 June. The vote will take place from 12.30 p.m. Source: www.europarl.europa.eu/sedcms/docum...

@sandertordoir.bsky.social, chief economist at the @centreeuropeanref.bsky.social warns her not to skirt around recent tensions: “If Reiche pretends like this is a 2016, not 2026, China trip, Chinese diplomats will put Germany in checkmate before the conversation starts.” buff.ly/nA3S66S

US–Bangladesh ART (Agreement on Reciprocal Trade) Art. 5.3 commits the US to a mechanism allowing 🇧🇩 textile & apparel products to enter the US market at a zero reciprocal tariff rate. (Volumes linked to 🇧🇩 purchases of US-produced cotton & man-made fibre.) 1/2 asianews.network/the-cotton-c...

India-Canada Trade Talks India and Canada are looking to fast-track negotiations for a proposed free trade agreement [FTA] as both countries push to deepen economic engagement and raise bilateral trade to $50 billion by 2030. 1/2 timesofindia.indiatimes.com/business/ind...

EU-China Trade Relations "The fundamental policy question is not whether Europe should wall itself off. It should not. A rich and open bloc cannot base prosperity on fear. The question is whether openness can survive without insurance." economy.ac/review/2026/...

Who said European countries cannot coordinate? The Spanish, Dutch; French and Italian cavalry join forces. Good diplomatic work. www.ft.com/content/3c70...

In one sentence, we now know that India will likely have a chance to revisit its defences in the India-Certain Measures Relating to Solar Cells & Solar Modules dispute, concerning India's need to develop domestic resilience measures to improve India's domestic capacity for solar cells and modules.

Although "an EU diplomat says" is really the worst kind of story as there are so many different folk and opinions, that's why I just focus on the general opinion. Which is the EU is interested in the UK. But understandably cautious in negotiations.

EU-UK Relations Might a new prime minister want to rejoin the EU? "The rejoin genie is out of the bottle,” said one bloc diplomat. “This is something we didn’t expect to be talking about for 10 years.” 1/2 www.ft.com/content/065b...

Here's the thing. From a business perspective, rejoining would be much better than the gradual alignment/ next stage. Why? Because every change (rules/regulations) is expensive and a waste of the company's time/money. Even if it's a positive change. www.bbc.com/news/article...

The UK government pitched the creation of a single market for goods with the EU as the cornerstone of the renewed partnership, @theguardian.com reports. The idea, which excluded free movement of people, was rejected by Brussels.

US-India Trade Talks An American trade delegation led by USTR Jamieson Greer is expected to visit New Delhi next month to take forward the negotiations on the proposed India-US bilateral trade agreement. 1/2 www.deccanherald.com/business/us-...

India has joined major steel-exporting nations including Japan, South Korea & China at the WTO to protest a UK proposal that would slash tariff-free steel import quotas from July 1 and increase duties on shipments exceeding the quota to 50 %. www.thehindubusinessline.com/economy/indi...

Our new paper on EU-UK – jointly w/ Fabian Zuleeg of @epc-official.bsky.social @dschwarzer.bsky.social and @jannikewachowiak.bsky.social - looks towards the next summit and beyond. Short thread. www.bertelsmann-stiftung.de/en/publicati...

EU member states seem ready to greenlight yesterday's agreements on the legislation eliminating tariffs on US goods - "The council is united" an EU diplomat says, adding there is "overall agreement that this is something that everyone can support"

Fantastic and important work by a high powered team. Thread.

Kaja Kallas - the bull in a china shop? EU officials slapping Kaja Kallas down for comments she made appearing to compare China’s trade practices to cancer. Source: www.politico.eu/newsletter/b...

A deal is a deal, and the EU honours its commitments. I welcome the agreement reached by the European Parliament and the Council on reducing tariffs for US industrial exports to the EU.

On Wednesday [20 May] morning, [EU] Parliament and Council reached a provisional agreement on two pieces of legislation implementing EU tariff commitments under the August 2025 EU-US Joint Statement. Next steps: www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/pres...

EU-US trade: Council and Parliament strike a deal to implement the tariff elements of the Joint Statement. www.consilium.europa.eu/de/press/pre...

US to host the G20 trade ministerial on 30 September-1 October in Milwaukee, the beer capital of the US (and, if you believe some folks, the world, although I can't get onboard with this) - USTR annoucement below - does not include beer references ustr.gov/about/policy...

Next step, to understand that the UK is in a permanent negotiation with the EU whether outside or in. And this is the UK's most important relationship and needs resourcing appropriately. e.g. for growth, energy, migration, foreign policy

News, to British politicians at least www.theguardian.com/world/2026/m...

EU-US FTA MEPs need cast-iron “guarantees” that the Trump administration will not be able to renege on its promises before they can agree to sign off the EU-US trade deal, the parliament’s lead negotiator [Bernd Lange/ S&D] has told EUobserver in an interview. euobserver.com/217197/top-m...

EU-US FTA Today [19 May] at 9 pm, in the Parliament in Strasbourg, lawmakers & diplomats are set to discuss again the implementation of the deal, which would cut European tariffs on US goods to zero and set a 15% cap for American tariffs on European products. www.euronews.com/my-europe/20...

Von der Leyen says the EU aims to sign (note: not apply) the EU-India agreement by the end of the year. Only then can it be ratified. Talks were concluded back in January. They really do take their time.

Hilarious, a Trump appointee writes "Reciprocity means both sides deliver what they promise"

“Reciprocity means both sides deliver what they promise”. The US Ambassador is taking the mickey

EU-US FTA Opinion in Politico Europe by US ambassador Andrew Puzder: "EU must honor its trade deal with Trump. EU got tariff relief. US got delay." 1/2 www.politico.eu/article/us-a...

What if there aren't at least 3 suppliers? Will the Commission compensate for choosing a more costly, inefficient supplier? What happens if suppliers seize the opportunity to raise prices, knowing firms have no choice but to diversify to comply with Brussels' plans?

The EU is drawing up plans to force European companies to buy critical components from at least three different suppliers, in a bid to reduce the bloc’s reliance on China. 1/3 www.ft.com/content/57b4...

White House fact sheet on Trump's China trip just released: www.whitehouse.gov/fact-sheets/...

A sinking ship? Why the EU and China could be heading for a trade war Fiery clashes at a conference in Beijing reflect wider tensions that threaten to descend into economic conflict - my report on rapidly worsening EU-China ties for our weekend paper

UK-India FTA The implementation of the India-U.K. trade deal has hit a late-stage hiccup due to a new regulation on steel imports the U.K. has said it will implement from July 1, which was not part of the trade negotiations. 1/2 www.thehindu.com/business/Eco...

Out today: latest report by @katyhayward.bsky.social and me on the views of voters in Northern Ireland on Brexit, the Windsor Framework and UK-EU Relations. Some key findings 👇 Full report available via @qubelfastofficial.bsky.social at: www.qub.ac.uk/sites/post-b...

We’ve read all of Trump’s trade deals, and spoke to U.S. trading partners. Here’s what we’ve learned—> www.foreignaffairs.com/united-state... via @foreignaffairs.com

India-NZ FTA Indian negotiators threatened to walk out of trade talks with NZ over its persistent efforts to include dairy. @Vangelisv.bsky.social revealed the detail to Parliament's trade select committee to help explain the "big disappointment" of the FTA. www.rnz.co.nz/news/politic...